Bohemia
by Crime Scene Fairy
Summary: In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC - Chapter 18: Breathe for Me - "Steve couldn't lose another friend. Not now, not yet, not after he had lost nearly everyone."
1. Before the Storm

**Author's Note:** Well, hello there! I'm back at fanfiction with my first _Avengers_ story! It's been a long time since I wrote something, since I started college in August, but I'm pretty proud of this.

This is Steve/OC, though Steve is going to take a bit to appear. The dates I chose come from the Marvel wiki and in some cases, my own head. The first few chapters are very much focused on Mack's joining SHIELD and the beginning of everything, but before Steve comes, we'll get a few other appearances. You'll see starting Chapter 3 who can show up here. I think that's about it for now.

I don't own Avengers, of course. That honor belongs to people much higher than me in the Geek Hierarchy. I merely occupy the levels of a fanfiction author and a Tumblr fanatic. So this is just for fun and to lay off steam when college gets too much.

Enjoy, my lovelies. Oh, minor swearing, but nothing the average college/ high school student hasn't heard.

EDIT 10/17: Writing in present tense annoyed me, I rewrote everything. Woo.

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 1 - **_Before the Storm_

* * *

**May 15, 2008 **

It hadn't taken her long to realize that the newcomer to the bar was watching her.

Mackenzie Donahue (recent Culver graduate, soon to be Empire State grad student, and proud of both facts) was not a stranger to the attention she was sometimes subjected to. All the bartenders at this little dive were used to it; they were warned about it from day one. The girls at the bar, however, were forced to deal with it more.

The other staff members will go after any of the customers that go too far (Jared, the owner, has a shotgun in the back and is not afraid to proclaim it loud and clear for patrons to hear) and Mack herself kept her old field hockey near at hand during her shifts, just in case.

Mack had assumed it had been that at first; he thought she was cute and was trying to figure out a way to ask her out. But it had never come.

He came every night that she had been there. He'd occasionally wear sunglasses or a hat, or bulky sweatshirts, but she could always tell it was the same guy. He never sat in her section, but it doesn't take her long to realize he's been watching her.

She doesn't feel threatened by his staring, not yet, and so did not mention it to any of her coworkers. Several had noticed, but Mack didn't dwell on it.

She had her field hockey stick, after all.

It was only when three weeks had past of this guy watching her that Mack finally said something.

"He just orders water," her coworker Val told her as Mack grabs her purse and field hockey stick at the end of her 2 am shift. The man had left a while ago, and Mack was convinced that he had memorized her shifts.

Mack nodded as she slid her purse on her shoulder. Her grip on the field hockey stick tightened. "Was he here any night I wasn't?" she asked, curious. She hoped that he was. She busy enough; she had no time to deal with a stalker.

Of course, Mack had never been the luckiest of girls. She failed in biting back an irritated groan as Val nodded in answer to her question.

Wonderful. She had a stalker. She already had enough to worry about, with packing her apartment up in preparation for her move to New York City, her puppy Arizona's refusal to be potty trained, and trying to finish her study on PTSD for publishing at the urging of her advisor at Culver.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Val asked, bringing her back to reality a few moments later. She smirked and added, with a crazed look Mack recognizes immediately, "He's kinda cute."

Mack rolled her eyes, wondering how Val could have forgotten so quickly that this mysterious man has, in fact, been stalking her. "He hasn't said anything to me."

"He's still cute. A stalker, but cute. Speaking of which-"

"I am not getting into another _Twilight_ debate, Val!" Mack rolled her eyes as she walked out of the bar amidst Val's cackles. She didn't think again her mysterious stalker, and instead focused on getting home.

* * *

Or rather, she didn't think of him again until she returned to her apartment and found him waiting for her. Inside her apartment. Kneeling on the ground and petting Arizona, her adorable German Shepherd puppy.

She still had her field hockey stick at least. Mack didn't scream when she sees him. Instead, she stood in the doorway, staring at him as her eyes adjusted to the light in the room. He stood slowly, holding his hands up in surrender, but he seemed almost amused at the situation.

"I'm not here to hurt you-"

He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence. Mack swung her field hockey stick with all the strength she had in her. To her horror, he dodged easily, diving to the ground and rolling a bit out of the way. Arizona yelped and ran away, skidding across the hardwood floor and escaping into the bedroom. Mack knew instantly that Arizona would hide under the bed, but not without leaving another accident on the floor, of course.

Mack held the field hockey stick up, keeping it between her and the intruder as he stood, still holding his hands up. The look on his face was a mix between amusement and surprise as he takes another step back, and she realized that he was trying to give her space.

Oh, so he was a _considerate_ stalker. How nice of him.

Mack found her voice a moment later, though it was several pitches higher than normal. "Okay, what the fuck is going on!? You stalk me at my job for three weeks, break into my apartment, get my antisocial dog to like you – _who the fuck are you_!?" She gestured wildly with the field hockey stick as she tried to breathe.

Before he could reply, she swung her field hockey stick, hoping for the element of surprise. Instead, he grabbed it mid swing, holding it in place as he stood and raised an eyebrow at her. She was too startled to give him anything other than an exasperated scowl.

"Look, my name is Clint Barton." He let go of the stick and held out his hands again. Mack raised the field hockey stick between them again, glaring at him. "I can explain this."

"Explain why you broke into my apartment after you've been spying on me for three weeks?!" Mack yelled, more furious than scared now. The realization hit her rather quickly a moment ago; if this guy had the skills to catch a field hockey stick midair, he probably had the skills to kill her without her ever realizing.

(If he wanted her dead, Mack realized, she would _be_ dead.)

He didn't look upset. Instead, he nodded, almost impressed as he said, "I thought you noticed me. You're even more observant than we thought you might be. That's good."

Mack tightened her grasp on her field hockey stick, keeping it between him and her.

"Can I explain at least?" Barton asked. He gestured toward her kitchen table, and finally noticed the cartons of Chinese food from a wonderful little place downtown, not too far away from the bar. Mack loved that Chinese place; she had been there once a week for the past three years. "That's the peace offering for breaking into your apartment."

The son of a bitch brought her favorite food. He had _so_ been stalking her. She glared at him still, and realizes that how stupid she might be right now. But dammit, she was curious about why he'd been following her. Curiosity had always been Mack's downfall. And as her stomach growled, Mack realized she was hungry.

She groaned and set down her hockey stick. "Make it quick."

* * *

After a half an hour of cleaning the glass from the floor, reheating the Chinese food, coaxing Arizona out from under the bed (she was surprised when Barton cleaned up the mess Arizona left behind), and listening to her stalker explain what exactly he wants (or rather, who he worked for), Mack was ready to beat him with her field hockey stick. Again

As hungry as she was, Mack didn't eat much of the food. She was too focused on what Crazy Stalker Guy (_Barton_, she reminded herself, _his name is Clint Barton_) told her, and she wondered for a second what parallel universe she wandered into when she wasn't looking.

"Bullshit." Mack sat on her couch, with Arizona on her lap, scratching her puppy's ears as she listened to Barton. Arizona's ears perked up at the tone of Mack's voice, and the psychology major was not surprised when her dog abandoned her and scurried back into her bedroom.

_Traitorous hound._

Sitting in the chair that had once belonged to her father, Barton smirked from across the living room. "Strong reaction there."

She gave a sarcastic laugh as she waved her hands in the air. "You're absolutely insane."

"I'm telling the truth."

"You want to recruit me for a secret organization?" Mack asked, sitting on her couch as she watched Barton carefully.

The scariest thing about Barton was that she could tell he wasn't lying. Mack had been a psychology student long enough to read people well enough to tell when they were lying. That meant there were two options; that Barton was a good enough liar for her not to realize (which was entirely possible) or he was telling the truth.

She was quickly realizing that the second option was more likely.

"SHIELD," Barton corrected. "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. SHIELD if you want to save a few breaths."

She knew there was no way that she would be able to call the cops. She was also convinced that he was telling the truth. Mack decided to humor him a bit. "So, why would you want to recruit me?" she asked, her voice dry. "My skills with a field hockey stick?

Barton rolls his eyes. "Someone brought you to our attention. You're good with people; you can read them and make others trust you easily. It's a natural charisma. You read me and knew you could trust me."

Mack snorted, but scowls internally as she realized Barton was exactly right. "I don't know if I was right about that-"

"You're talking to me now and you haven't called the cops. You know I'm not going to hurt you. If I wanted to, I would have already," Barton interrupted, raising an eyebrow as he dared her to contradict him. She didn't, and he continued, "This is an opportunity. We think you could make a difference."

He rattled off some other things – some benefits, paperwork and orientation, some mention about her candidacy for field agent due to her physical and emotional training. It was around that point that Mack realized that her head was spinning due to the fact that a secret organization was attempting to recruit her as a possible secret agent.

"Can I think about this, please?" she interrupted, massaging her temples as she tried to set her world right side up again.

(The scariest part about the situation was that she was very seriously considering his offer. All through her childhood, Mack's brother and mother and sister had told her that curiosity killed the cat, to which she had always replied that cats had nine lives.

Mack had always been curious, and had always been one to take chances. The offer to join SHIELD just might be the one thing Mack needed to get her out of the boring office job she had dreaded for years.)

"You can think about it." Mack nodded at Barton's answer, a bit wary, and watched him as he walked to the door, turning to her before opening it. "I'll call you in a few days, find out your decision. I left my number on the table, call if you need me. Okay?"

Mack nodded, and realized just how much thinking she had to do.

* * *

**May 16, 2008**

She was attacked as she left work the next day.

Mack had been distracted all day, her thoughts consumed by Barton's offer. Her other option, the option she had planned months ago, was to move up to New York in July to begin her graduate studies at Empire State University. She had been so distracted today that she had forgotten her field hockey stick at home.

It happened without warning. Someone grabbed her when she tried to unlock her car. In a series of quick, harsh moves, Mack is turned around, moved a few feet to the side and backward, and slammed against the hood of her car.

She screamed, more out of alarm than pain, though her back throbbed with the latter in a steady beat. Something cold was pushed against her head, and with a choked sob, she realized it was the barrel of a gun.

"Who's the agent who was talking to you?" her attacker demanded. She couldn't see any of his features in the dim lighting from the street lamp above, but she knew instantly she was in the deepest trouble she had ever been in.

"What are you talking about?" Mack yelled back, struggling as much as she dared with a weapon at her head. "I didn't do anything!"

"You lying bitch!" Mack yelped as he backhanded her, and she sobbed again, the gun pressing harder against her head. "Who is the agent talking to you? Tell me!"

"Barton!" she yelled. Her body shook with sobs and panic. She was not ready to die yet. She did not want to die yet, and she knew that this man would not hesitate in putting a bullet through her brain. "His name was Barton, I didn't know anything else!"

He growled and slapped her again, and she screamed, "I don't know! He wanted me to join SHIELD! I didn't say yes, please let me go!"

He didn't hit her again. Instead, he stood there, staring at her, his hand around her neck, keeping her against the car, and she choked back a sob. "Please, let me go," she begged. She had her pride, but she wanted her life more.

(She was not ready to die, not yet.)

"SHIELD will not get their hands on you," the man murmured with a crazed look. Mack gave a strangled sob, giving one last desperate effort to escape before exhaustion kept her against the car. She knew fighting was her only option, but her senses and instincts were clouded with fear and pain.

She froze as the gun clicked against her head. "Please, no-" she begged.

"Goodbye, Miss Donahue."

Just before he pulled the trigger, something slammed into him. She screamed as gun went off a few inches from her head, breaking the windshield of her car. The pressure around her neck disappeared as her attacker tumbled heavily to the ground. She collapsed against her car, and frantically tried to see what had happened.

Dimly, she realized that someone has saved her life. The world around her became clearer as she realized that someone had tackled the man who had nearly shot her, saving her life in the process. The street lamp was still on, and it was in that moment that Mack caught a glimpse of her savior's face.

In a burst of clarity, she realized who it was.

_Barton_.

She hurried to her feet, leaning heavily against the hood of her car as she watched the fight. The way Barton fought is almost an art style, a combination of quick kicks and strong punches, but she was too numb to appreciate it. Barton had the upper hand in a few moments, and with one strong punch to the jaw, Mack's attacker was unconscious on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Barton asked, his voice rough as he turned, watching her with what she recognized as concern.

Mack stumbled back, leaning heavily against the car. "Oh my God."

She closed her eyes, pressing her hands to her temples as her body shook. Something hot was on her face, and she realized she was bleeding. The world around her was spinning, and Mack's body was shaking more with every second.

She flinched as strong hands gripped her shoulders tightly. "Hey, look at me." Mack's eyes opened and met Barton's, but her world slowly faded to black. "Mackenzie, look at me, look at me, stay awake! Stay with me-"

Mack collapsed, unconscious, in his arms a moment later.

* * *

A half an hour later, she sat in the back of an ambulance, a blanket around her shoulders, surveying the scene around her.

Mack had only been unconscious for a few minute, and yet the parking lot had filled to capacity within that time. She had caught sight of a furious Jared and a terrified Val, but neither had noticed her among the men in the black suits. She watched everything, and realized how much had happened since the attack. At least fifty others had shown up, and from the way that several of them had nodded and saluted Barton, she realized how screwed up her night has become.

One thing in particular stood out in her mind. Each black car had a symbol on it – an eagle, wings spread. She recognized it from somewhere, but could not for the life of her figure out where she knew it from. One doctor had told her it was SHIELD's symbol, but Mack could not figure out how she would know their symbol beforehand.

As she tried to stay calm, Mack heard pieces of a conversation nearby. One word stuck in her head, and she wondered what a _hydra_ had to do with whoever had attacked her.

She was not surprised when Barton sat next to her, breaking her out of her near catatonic reverie. For someone who had just defended and completely destroyed a clearly well-trained soldier, he seemed impossibly calm.

(Lucky bastard.)

"He's been taking into custody," Barton told her gently. "You're safe."

"He was going to kill me." The shock and terror had worn away to numbness, and Mack found herself unaware of how she should react to almost dying. Someone tried to kill her because SHIELD had attempted to recruit her. God, when had her life become this?

(She answers her own question a moment later. Her life became a circus when Clint fucking Barton had broken into her apartment and told her about SHIELD, and dammit, she was still not turned off to the idea of joining them. If she joined them, she would have something more to do with her life. That was something she had always wanted.)

Barton does not lie to her, and instead nods in confirmation. "He got close."

"I got lucky," she whispered.

"Some people don't," Barton replied, and she appreciated his honesty at least. He seemed almost gentle, but Mack did not focus on that. "A lot of people go into this situation, and they don't make it out alive."

"I don't want to be that scared again," Mack blurted out, her hands shaking. Dammit, she had hoped her breakdown had ended a few minutes ago. Mack was crying a moment later, and realizes in an instant that she would do anything never to feel that terrified again. "If I join you, can you make that happen?"

He didn't reply for a few moments.

"I can't promise you won't be scared again, even if you join SHIELD," Barton finally said. "But I can promise you that you can learn to fight back. I can teach you how to stop these people from doing this to others. You can do something, make a difference."

Barton stood then. She didn't flinch when he squeezed her shoulder. "I'll check on you tomorrow morning. Okay? Just get some rest tonight. We'll keep a guard on you. You'll be safe."

He began to walk away. Mack made her choice a second later.

"Barton."

He didn't turn around. For a moment, he stood there, waiting for her answer. Mackenzie Donahue (former incoming Empire State grad student, former normal girl, former damsel in distress) took a deep breath and the metaphorical plunge into the great unknown that was her future.

"I'm in."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hope you enjoyed. Here's the Chapter 2 preview. It'll hopefully be up later this week, see you all then!

**Chapter 2** - _Road to Ruin  
_Mack just glared at him as she groaned. "Wonderful. Just fantastic. I better not get shot at, Barton."


	2. Road to Ruin

**Author's Note: **Chapter 2 is very different than the first chapter - very cryptic in some parts, but I promise all will be explained eventually in later chapters. This goes across a two year span of time, from just after Mack is recruited in SHIELD to about two years later. You'll see what happens over those two years, and then we'll get into the fun stuff starting next chapter.

And thanks to TheGirlWhoBelieved3, charinjon, memo bonafide, and sammiegirl for putting this story on alert. Thanks to XionNight for favoriting, and double thanks to ultima-owner and Ninjaavengergal for doing both! I really appreciate it, and this chapter is for all of you.

As always, I don't own Avengers or any associates acts. Hope you enjoy, and again, please review. I'd love to hear what you think!

EDIT 10/27 - Again edited for tense, because writing in present tense is annoying.

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 2 - **_Road to Ruin_

* * *

**May 25, 2008**

The first week was _hell_.

No other word could describe it.

Ten days after the attack in the parking lot, Barton brought her to the New York headquarters of SHIELD. He immediately began background and medical checks, and Mack was introduced to at least a dozen people, all of various members of SHIELD branches. As soon as she was declared fit for duty, Barton began her training regime.

_Nothing_ could have prepared her for Barton's training.

He put her into a relentless training regime - endurance, martial arts, linguistics, espionage, interrogation… before too long the training began to blend together, and Mack realized that yes, _this is reality_, she was being trained to be a secret agent by a guy with a thing for bows and arrows.

(Mack realized, years later, in one of the darkest times of her life, how well Barton prepared her for the life of a SHIELD agent. For now, she knew that he cared about what happened to her, and that was enough for the moment.)

* * *

**June 1, 2008**

She met Natasha Romanoff, Barton's partner, two weeks after her arrival at SHIELD.

Romanoff was cold and professional, and Mack was intimidated the instant after meeting her. She would be dealing with Romanoff for a long time – Barton was Romanoff's partner and Mack's supervising officer. Mack is convinced within seconds of meeting the redhead that Natasha disliked her.

She knew that focusing on Romanoff's like or dislike of her was not an option. Instead, she focused on her training. Mack would prove herself eventually, but for now, she had to get there.

Mack had been active all her life, the level of physicality expected from SHIELD seemed almost inhumanely possible. She played field hockey from middle school through college, and had been in gymnastics before that. Mack discovered that a single sparring session with Barton produced more bruises than a full season of field hockey.

(Mackenzie Donahue had never been one to give up when things got tough. So she kept going, one minute at a time.)

* * *

**June 29, 2008**

At some point, Barton became _Clint_ and Agent Romanoff became _Natasha_ and _Tasha_.

Mack would never be quite sure when they hit that point of familiarity, but remembered it happening around the point Natasha and Clint called her _Mackenzie_ and _Mack_ and even _Kenzie_.

One training session toward the end of June was particularly brutal, and her body was covered in dark bruises after it. Her leg throbbed with steady pain, and she was sure her right eye would be black when she woke the next morning.

Just before she hit the showers, Clint passed her, squeezed her shoulder, and said, "Good job today, Kenzie."

(Each bruise was worth it.)

* * *

**July 18, 2008**

For a long while, her entire life consisted of eating, sleeping, and training. There was nothing else. If she had any off time, it was spent with Clint and Tasha, listening to them recount past missions and learning anything she could from them.

She met Agent Phil Coulson in July. It was impossible not to like him instantly. He called her _Mackenzie_ though, despite Clint and Natasha calling her Mack on a regular basis.

Mack met Fury in July, and couldn't decide whether she's in awe or absolutely terrified of him. Probably a combination of both; Mack realized quickly that he's not a man to piss off if she valued her life. He called her _Donahue_ a majority of the time, and Clint assured her that Fury was an intimidating guy in general; he did not have a personal stake in terrifying her. She only needed to snark for five minutes with Maria Hill to realize how fantastically they would get along.

Coulson taught her a lot. Clint and Natasha could teach her about the physical and espionage aspects, could train her until she was black and blue all over, but Coulson gave her advice and wisdom from years of experience.

(Coulson had been a member of SHIELD even longer than Clint and Natasha, and had pretty much seen everything the world has to offer, and she was sure that she could just sit there for hours listening to his stories.)

Mack's old life was officially over. She had no contact with any of her college friends. She spoke with her mother twice, her brother and sister once each. She missed the birth of her second nephew. She missed Arizona and knew her mom was taking care of her puppy, and hoped that after her initial training was done she would be able to get her dog back.

She knew she was giving up a lot when she gave up SHIELD. It was her choice though, and she stuck by that choice even through the roughest parts of her training.

* * *

**July 27, 2008**

"This job is taking a lot of time."

Mack is sitting in the med center after she failed to dodge a brutal kick from Natasha during one of the toughest combat sessions she has ever been put through. The pain in her ribs after the session convinced Clint that she received a hairline fracture from the kick, and he, of course, ignored her protest before dragging her down here to be checked out in medical.

"It's a good job," Mack said. She shifted and winced as pain bled through her body. She ignored Clint's knowing smirk that gloated that he was right to drag her in here. "Good benefits and coworkers. I like it, Mom. I'm going to help people."

Mack had always been close to her mother. She had barely been four years old when her father had died in a car accident. Her brother Sean had been twelve, her sister Bridget eight. Grace Donahue had been heartbroken at her husband's death, but had thrown herself into the care of her three children, the last reminder she had of Aiden Donahue.

If Grace Donahue knew that her daughter was in a top secret organization and being trained as a super spy, Mack knew for a fact she would show up and drag her back home kicking and screaming.

She was not willing to let this happen

"Are you happy?" her mother asked.

Mack did not hesitate. "I will be."

* * *

**August 29, 2008**

Sometime after the third month mark, training became easier.

Her body has changed and adapted to the physicality of her role as an agent. Her espionage and sparring are better, (her interrogation tactics are still shit, but she and Clint have given it up as a lost cause at that point), and she's begun to realize how much she changed in a few months. She was more confident in her skin, could slip into a role in an instant, and is so much more than the college girl she was a few months ago.

One day, Clint took her to one of the training rooms after she asked if she could try a bow and arrow. Her lack of ability with them was laughable, but it was complete accident when Mack and Clint discovered her eerie ability with knives.

To Mack, it was hilarious. The slightly chipper new girl being mentored by the antisocial archer was a knife thrower at heart.

Mack learned more from Tasha at that point - to hide knives, how to fight with them, how to throw them with a higher level of accuracy, how to fight against them, and, perhaps most important, how to withstand torture from knives.

She knew that they would get to this lesson eventually. Every mission held the risk of capture, and every capture held the promise of torture. Every SHIELD agent went through this phase of training – withstanding torture is just one more thing she needed to learn.

She woke up one day after lunch strapped to a chair, and forced her body and mind to remain calm. Mack didn't say a word as a SHIELD agent (she didn't recognize him, but knew that something was going on, a part of her training, and that she would get through this).

It was by far the most painful thing she ever went through, and she found it ironic that he used knives only a few days after she decided to focus on knives training (it all blurs together thanks to the pain, and she's never quite sure how long she was on that chair), but she got through it all the same, one second at a time. Clint and Natasha weren't a part of it. She didn't know the agent's name, was glad that she didn't know his name, but she survived it, one more step on the way to becoming a certified field agent.

She never saw that agent again, but knew she might be able to survive if she was captured.

(Some of those scars would never fade, but she understood the attitude of knowing just how much pain your weapon of choice could cause).

* * *

**September 23, 2008**

It took just about four months for Mack's initial training to be completed. She was far from being prepared for solo assignments, but Coulson cleared her for accompanying Clint and Natasha on certain missions. Mack was also cleared to take an apartment off base, and she was more thrilled than she should be about that.

Mack spent a weekend packing up her life from the tiny room she had at headquarters and into her apartment in Brooklyn. She bought furniture and decorations with the help of her mother and siblings, and they helped her move in. Her apartment had a lot of unpacking still, but she had a place of her own in the city even when she was working with SHIELD. It was nice to have a place to escape.

The day after her mother and siblings left and she was alone in the apartment (she had Arizona back at least; God, she missed her dog), she was surprised by Clint and Natasha coming by with sandwiches from the deli she loved. They spend an afternoon chatting and unpacking, and Mack is hit by the love she had for them both then.

(It was at that point she realized that Natasha and Clint might not just be her fellow agents. They were her friends, and in other ways, her brother and sister in arms.)

* * *

**October 29, 2008**

"We're heading out tomorrow night. New mission."

Natasha was on the climbing wall when she called down to Mack. Mack didn't look at the redhead; instead, she focused on her spar with Clint, who had never taken it easy on her and probably wouldn't change that routine in this spar. If she gave him an opening, Mack was fully aware that Clint would take it without hesitation or mercy.

(She learned that painful lesson before, and she would be damned if she gave Clint another reason to gloat.)

"Have fun," Mack called, dodging a kick and smirking as she landed her own quick jab on Clint's shoulder. He stumbled back on it, but shot her an approving nod as he moved in with another kick. "When do you leave?"

Natasha shot her an unreadable look before climbing back down with lazy ease. "You're coming with us, Mack."

Mack was startled enough that Clint found an opening. He kicked her hard enough to send her sprawling to the ground. She groaned, not out of pain, but of the realization that Fury and Coulson have decided that a mere five months of training are enough to send her on an international mission. She had Clint and Natasha of course, but still, this was a mission. An actual mission. Her first mission.

"Where to?" she asked, keeping her voice steady.

Mack knew there's no point to argue, because both Clint and Natasha had to have already cleared it, if it wasn't their idea in the first place. She knew there was no point fighting Coulson or Fury on it either, because she was well aware that Coulson knew her limits almost as well as she and Clint and Natasha did.

"South Africa," Clint replied. He held out a hand, and she let him pull her back up. "We're taking down a terrorist cell. You'll be in charge of the SHIELD outpost there, giving us intel as we take it down."

"Wonderful." Mack ran a hand through her sweaty hair. "Saying I'm not ready isn't going to do anything, is it?"

"Considering that you _are_ ready, not at all," Clint stated, ruffling her hair as he headed to the shower.

Mack just glared at him as she groaned. "Wonderful. Just fantastic. I better not get shot at, Barton."

(She did get shot at, actually. But her first assignment didn't go too horribly; Clint and Tasha took down the terrorist cell, they were all alive at the end of the mission, and it was worth being shot at to see the pride on Clint's face and have Tasha smile at her when they returned to New York.)

* * *

**January 2, 2009**

She killed for the first time in Budapest.

It was her fourth mission, and it had gone absolutely _horribly_. Their original contact was dead, the replacement contact was a mole for the enemy all along, Clint was captured for a day, Mack nearly burned to death in a fire, they've been running for two days straight, and she was separated from the two a bit earlier.

Oh, and of course, Fury and Coulson decided after Mission #2 that she was ready for actual combat.

Clint and Tasha were somewhere outside, and she was on another street, trying to find her way to them. She had avoided detection for the past hour, had kept her earpiece silent for fear of being detected, and believed she finally found where Clint and Natasha were fighting.

As she made her way over there, someone grabbed her as she past an alcove in a side street; he was probably over six foot, while Mack barely made it to five feet, five inches. She flipped backward as he grabbed her arm, sending him off to the side while wrenching him off of her. He gave a frustrated shout before ramming towards her.

Mack jumped out of the way and lunged out of instinct, and nearly froze as a warm spray of _something_ splashed on her neck and face.

It was in that moment that she realized she automatically grabbed a knife from her belt – a knife now slick with blood.

It was in that moment that she realized she used her knife on another human being.

Mack was nearly light-headed as she watched her attacker collapse to the ground; his throat slit wide open (she had no idea she was slitting his throat, let alone slitting _that deep, _and she had no idea she had gotten her knife out _at all_) and his eyes were open and terrified.

It took less than a minute for him to die, but Mack stood there, frozen, watching as the light left his eyes, as the numb realization that she killed someone trickled down from her brain into the rest of her body. She made the conscious effort not to drop her knife, not to throw up, to just stay standing.

It wasn't until Barton began yelling for her over the earpiece, trying to get her to answer, asking if she was _still alive_, that Mack was broken out of the shock and realized that she still had a job to do.

It wasn't until hours later, after she found Clint and Tasha and they escaped from Budapest, that she realized that she still had the man's dried blood on her.

* * *

**January 6, 2009**

When they returned from Budapest, she and Clint had their normal sparring session.

Her head was not in the game, and she knew that Clint had refrained from taking openings that even she realized she gave. His hesitation made it worse.

At some point, (she was convinced the snap of her calm was audible) Mack broke lose, and Clint took it. He took every punch and kick, defended himself when necessary, but he let her fight and let loose. At some point, she finally stopped punching the shit out of him, but she was gone by that point.

That was how Natasha found them twenty minutes later; Mack sobbing against the wall and Clint with an arm around her shoulder, not saying anything, not judging, but just being there in a way he knew she needed.

(He didn't ask her if she wanted to leave, and she didn't reply, because they all knew that she's in SHIELD for good now, guilt or no guilt, because she knew she was making a difference.)

* * *

**August 10, 2009**

Mack was captured for the first time in Brazil.

(She knew Clint and Natasha were coming, she was supposed to keep the contact, a doctor, safe, but a bomb went off and she was unconscious before she truly knew what was happening, and she just prayed they would find her soon.)

They interrogated and tortured her for information, but she remained absolutely silent for the first day. The pain was overwhelming, but she kept silent, repeating silently in her head _Clint and Tasha are coming for me, Clint and Tasha are coming, Clint and Tasha are coming…_

Mack gave them no information, but she is tortured to the point where everything is a blur. Everything hurt, and pain and time bled together into an unintelligible mess of thoughts. She passed out countless times from both exhaustion and pain, but they always woke her up before she could rest too long.

The questions were the same each time, and she realized they were pulled into a trap. These guys wanted a SHIELD agent the entire time, and she was the one they took. Mack had been guarding the doctor when the bomb had gone off, and the bomb had killed him and knocked her out. Clint and Natasha had been across the city, but she knew that they would have figured out by now that she is gone.

(Her thoughts were jumbled and fervent prayers for rescue, for Clint and Tasha to get her out of here.)

Mack was trained for this situation. She could handle this, but sometimes, the pain was too much, and she was oh so tempted to just give them the information. She remembered who might get hurt if she gave it (Coulson, Natasha, Barton, everyone else) and she stayed silent instead.

She did not make a sound the entire time.

Some amount of time passed (she was not sure at the moment, but she later learned she spent four days total captive), and there was noise and gunshots outside the room she was being held in. She struggled to lift her head, but gave up after a moment, trying to breathe and not get her hopes up too much. The guard in the room stood, gun held out, and seemed to be ready for what came next.

(Let this be Clint, let this be Natasha, let it be someone who is going to get her out of here.)

The door burst open a moment later, followed by the familiar twang of a shot arrow. Mack nearly cried with relief as the guard in the room collapsed to the ground with an arrow in his chest. A moment later, Clint's face came into view, and she's dimly aware of the rage on his face as he looked over her and noticed the doubtless marks of torture on her body.

"I'm sorry," she burst out, trying to breathe and keep calm, but the relief she felt almost overwhelms her. "I am so sorry-"

"Hey, hey, this is not your fault. Do you hear me? This is not your fault. Are you okay?" he demanded, voice rough as he grabbed a knife from his belt.

"I think," Mack whispered, her voice cracking. She shook as Clint cut loose the bonds on her ankles, knees, stomach, elbows, and wrists, releasing her from the table.

"Can you walk?" Clint asked.

"I think I'm good," she whispered. Mack slowly stood, but her knees buckled instantly. Clint grabbed her and held her steady and standing, and gently pushed her against the table. She paused in her breathing to whisper, "Thank you."

He only squeezed her hand, and Mack let the relief flow through her.

(She knew that they were coming for her, because she and Natasha had gone back for Clint before, back in Budapest, and Clint had told her countless times that he never left a partner behind, but there had been a few scary moments where she had believed that she would be stuck in that cell for the rest of her life.

She was never happier to be proven wrong.)

* * *

**April 9, 2010**

A bit under two years after she joined SHIELD, Mack and Clint were sent to Australia.

It was in Australia that all hell broke loose.

It was in Australia that Mack was broken.

* * *

**May 31, 2010**

Mack was allowed off her ordered leave over a month after Australia.

She did not want the leave, but Fury ordered her on it. She fought it with every bit of her, and ended up in a brutal fight with Clint about it after she discovered her SO had talked to Fury about it directly, going against her completely.

It wasn't until Coulson, (Coulson who has been there for her a hundred times already in two years) sat her down and point blank told her that she needed to take time off after Australia that she realized how much she'd been broken. So she swallowed her pride and admitted she needed help. She apologized to Clint, accepted the leave, and stayed away from SHIELD.

So Mack breathed and relaxed and tried not to go too crazy with cabin fever. She spent the days catching up with friends and family and taking care of Arizona, who seemed a bit irritated that she's still in the apartment after a week. Her dog has turned into an antisocial creature at heart who enjoyed full run of the apartment.

Natasha received an undercover assignment at Stark Enterprises so she didn't hear from her too much. Clint took a job (up in Canada, if she was right) that she was not _sure_ she wants to know about.

It was in May, over a month after everything that Fury called her to tell her that SHIELD was pulling her off leave.

(The fact that Fury called her at five in the morning was probably not a coincidence.)

"You're going to LA, Donahue." Fury's voice told her, no greeting before or after.

"For what, sir?" Mack asked, her spine straightening. She was relieved to be going back, because she realized quickly that being able to _breathe_ meant being able to _remember_, and that _remembering_ meant Australia was never far from her thoughts.

"Coulson's being reassigned from babysitting Stark to heading down to New Mexico. You're picking him up from there."

"I'm not going with Barton?" she asked, surprised. She had been on over a dozen missions for the past two years, and had gone on a mission once without her SO. Of course, that had been with Coulson, so maybe Fury's logic made more sense than she gave him credit for.

"Not this time. Coulson wants to see if you're ready for this. For now, your plane leaves in an hour and a half. I expect you to be there. A car will be waiting for you once you reach California, you'll receive Stark's address, and then you'll pick up Coulson. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Mack replied quietly. She was already heading to her bedroom to pack a small bag. It wouldn't be much, but it would be enough for her while she was on the job.

Fury's next words stopped her in her tracks.

"Let me be clear, Donahue. This is an _emergency_. That is the only reason why you are going back in the field without a couple dozen psych examinations. The moment Coulson believes you can't handle this, you are being sent back to New York to be put back on leave. Do you understand, Agent Donahue?"

"Yes, sir," Mack responded, her voice clear as she glanced at the cabinet across the room. She walked to it, opened it, and pulled out a small knife, looking it over as she added, "I understand completely."

(She was still broken, but Mackenzie Donahue was back in the game.)

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hope everyone enjoyed, and please review! The next chapter should be up ASAP, but reviews help the motivational process with the writing. We get an appearance by everyone's favorite billionaire next chapter, if that raises incentive. The preview for next chapter, as always.

**Chapter 3** -_Back to Start_  
When she walked out of the bathroom and saw that Coulson has knocked out two robbers without breaking a sweat, she was not sure why her first reaction is to roll her eyes and realize how good it felt to be back


	3. Back to Start

**Author's Note:** We're in Chapter 3, and we get an appearance from a certain billionaire. :D I'm excited for this, because we get a lot of insight on Mack's relationship with Coulson and Natasha specifically. I'm happy with it though!

This chapter is dedicated to memo bonafide for delivering the first review of the story! Thank you so much, love, and I hope to hear from you this chapter, too! And thanks to those who are putting Bohemia on alert and favoriting it. I appreciate it. :)

As an incentive to review, anyone who does review will get a spoiler for a later chapter, and the story will update quicker! I will also go to your story page and review one of your stories!

Please review, guys, I would love to hear from you guys and see what you think of Mackenzie. As another incentive, Steve comes in within the next few chapters, so review and we'll get to him soon enough. ;)

I don't own Avengers, hope you enjoy, and please review!

EDIT 10/27 - Again edit because screw you, present tense.

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 3 - **_Back to Start_

* * *

**May 31, 2010**

_"You son of a bitch-"_

_"I'm so sorry it had to come to this."_

_"You don't have to do this."_

_"Yes, I do."_

_"Don't do this. Please don't do this."_

_"I'm sorry you got caught up in it."_

Mack jolted awake with a gasp, a hand flying to her neck. She looked around wildly for a few moments, trying to get her bearings and calm herself.

Mack was a terrible flyer, and had been so her entire life. She had been on planes constantly since joining SHIELD, and Clint had never ceased to tease her about it during their long flights to wherever their next mission was.

Mack took a deep breath as she double-checked her seat belt, glad that she had finally arrived in California. She was already exhausted, but knew that there would be little chance of rest until this mission was completed. Mack was back in the game, and she refused to do anything that might screw up her second chance.

"You're okay," she whispered to herself, trying to calm her racing heart. "You're okay."

Mack almost didn't notice her hand slipping to her thigh to check if her knives were still strapped to her. "You're okay."

* * *

"Long time no see."

It was midafternoon by the time that Mack arrived at Stark's mansion in Malibu. She was groggy from the time zone changes and the plane ride itself (stupid planes), but managed a grin as she stepped out of the car. The SHIELD driver left as soon as Mack was out of the car, and the brunette agent glimpsed another car that she recognized as Coulson's on the other side of the driveway.

She hadn't seen Coulson since she had left SHIELD for that leave, and there was no denying the relief she felt. The change from seeing him and Clint and Tasha frequently and suddenly not at all had been a major shock.

Granted, everything since Australia had been a major shock, but she pushed Australia away out of instinct. She couldn't afford to think about it, not right now, not when two years of her work was one the line.

"Too long," Mack replied, her voice tight as she stopped in front of the man who had helped train her for almost two years now. She took the hand offered and squeezed it, the effort to keep a smile on her face not nearly as difficult now. "How are you, Coulson?"

"I think I should be asking you." He looked the same as always – same suit, same small smile, same old reliable Coulson. Mack stood at attention as he studied her; her back was stiff as she waited for whatever he said next. "Fury told you about what's going to happen?"

"We're going to the desert." Mack scowled slightly. A certain mission with Clint (her second mission, in the deserts of Egypt) turned her off to anything involving sand. "It'll be fun. All the sand. And poisonous reptiles. And sand."

Coulson chuckled, but was serious an instant later as he added, "There's that, but also what's going to happen if I decide you can't handle this."

She bit back a groan with only half success; it came out as an exasperated sigh instead. "I can handle it, Phil," Mack replied with forced patience. She knew that Australia broke her more than a little bit, but she was better now than she was a month ago.

"I know what you can do, Mackenzie. This shouldn't be a difficult mission."

Mack was surprised to feel relief at being called _Mackenzie_ again. Coulson was still the only one to call her by her full name. With Fury, it was always _Donahue_ or _Agent Donahue_; Director Fury had probably said her full name less than five times in two years. With Natasha and Clint it was always _Mack_ or _Kenzie_, _Mackenzie_ when she was in trouble or they were getting frustrated.

It was never less than _Mackenzie_ with Coulson, and it made her feel as though she had come back home, even if just a little bit.

Despite that, Mack couldn't help the disbelieving look she shot at him before casually adding, "I heard the same thing before South Africa and Brazil. _It shouldn't be a difficult mission_. It never ends well when someone says that. I got shot at in South Africa and kidnapped in Brazil."

"Those were anomalies." Coulson walked away, back into the house. Mack followed, only a few steps behind, as they entered Stark's mansion.

"Oh, I heard it before Canada too! I almost died in Canada! But no, it wasn't something cool like being shot by the smugglers we were taking down. Oh, no. I almost _drowned_ in Canada! Do you know how humiliating that was, being an agent in training and nearly drowning?"

"I've heard the story a few times." The smirk in Coulson's eyes said it had been more than a few, but she appreciated the fact that he would humor her a bit.

"Yeah, because Barton tells it every chance he gets. He thinks nearly drowning is a hilarious misadventure." Mack shook her head as she followed Coulson down a set of winding stairs. She assumed they were going down into Stark's basement. She took a quick glance into the lab, raising an eyebrow at how advanced it was for a guy's basement. "I didn't think Barton was ever going to stop laughing about it."

"And yet somehow you're still here." Coulson's face turned to _business mode_ immediately as he walked forward into the lab, shooting an almost amused look at Stark. Mack didn't follow him, instead staying close to the door. "I heard you broke the perimeter."

Stark didn't look up for a few seconds. "Yeah, that was like three years ago. Where you been?" He finally looked up, and frowned slightly at Mack, who settled for nodding calmly at him. "Who's she?"

Mack had heard of Tony Stark before, of course. Who in the modern world _hadn't_ heard of Tony Stark? Mack had been with Natasha and Barton when Stark had admitted on national television to being Iron Man, and she remembered wondering how in the hell this guy was still alive after everything. She had watched his little show on the floor of the Senate, and couldn't remember when she had laughed that hard.

She was also not surprised to find her initial impression of Stark as a rather insufferable genius wasn't too far off the mark.

"Agent Mackenzie Donahue. She's with me." Coulson started looking around the lab at that moment, and Mack continued to watch Tony Stark carefully. "Mackenzie, this is Tony Stark."

"And why is she in normal clothes?" Tony asked, glancing at her outfit again before turning back to his work. Mack felt self-conscious of her simple black V-neck shirt, black leather jacket, jeans, and combat boots, but then again, she had just come off of a long flight.

"Maybe because I refused to be in anything but comfortable clothes during a four hour plane ride?" Mack replied, rolling her eyes and resisting the urge to throw something at the genius in front of her. "Plane rides aren't that fun."

"Depends on what plane you're on." Stark smirked again before adding, "See, Coulson, I'm getting things done. I'm playing for the home team, you and all your Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. No are you gonna let me work or break my balls?"

"This is working?" Mack glanced around the clutter again, wondering how, exactly, this guy was going to figure out how to save his own life. She had read the files they had on Tony Stark, even though she knew she wouldn't be working with him at all. She had always been a bit curious.

"It's _organized chaos_, kid." Mack narrowed her eyes at being called _kid_ for a few seconds, and her scowl deepened as Stark smirked over at her. "Are you even old enough to be a SHIELD agent?" he wondered, giving her a once over.

"Seriously?" Mack asked, wondering how, exactly, this man had survived this long without someone killing him over a comment.

"Mackenzie." Coulson's voice was a warning, and Mack settled for continually glaring at Stark for a few seconds before turning her attention back to Coulson. The agent in question had picked up what seemed to be a half-finished shield. It was then she noticed the look on the older agent's face. "What's this doing here?"

Mack smirked as she recognized the star symbol on the unfinished shield, but paused when she felt a vibration in the pocket of her jeans. "Coulson, I'll wait outside." She nodded at Stark before adding, "Good luck."

"See you, kid." Mack rolled her eyes before walking out, pulling her vibrating phone out of her pocket. She gave a genuine smile as she answered the phone. "Hey."

"Is Stark back at the house?"

"Hard at work in that basement of his." Mack's smile turned into a grin as she walked out of the house, slowly walking towards Coulson's car. It was the first time she had talked to one of her closest friends in over a month, and it was _wonderful_ to hear her voice again. "Great to hear from you, too, Nat."

"I only can talk for a minute. Fury wanted me to check in on you."

Mack sighed heavily as she leaned against the car, twirling a strand of light brown hair around her free finger. "How long is it going to take for you all to realize I'm not going to randomly explode?"

"Mackenzie."

Mack sighed. "Fine. Maybe I did get a bit broken by what happened in Australia. But I promise, if I didn't feel up to this, I wouldn't be back in the game. You know me." She hesitated for a few seconds before adding, "I appreciate that everyone is worried. I really do. But I have to get back in here. I was going crazy just sitting around."

Natasha sighed over the phone, and Mack bit her lip for a few seconds. "Just be careful. I'm worried about you." Natasha's voice cut off for a moment before Mack heard, somewhat more muffled, "I'm almost done, Miss Potts. Just talking to my little sister."

Mack grinned at the cover Natasha had given her. _Little sister_ indeed. "You are so sentimental at heart."

She could practically hear Natasha roll her eyes. "Goodbye, Mack."

"Talk to you later. I'll tell Clint you miss him." Mack giggled and hung up the phone before she could hear Natasha's retort, but she was more than a little proud of herself for her last remark.

(_Sister_ was exactly the term Mack would give Tasha. Mack went to Natasha more than she went to Clint sometimes, and it had been a huge surprise to Clint when he found out Natasha and Mack had the occasional girl's night without him.)

It only took a few more minutes to Coulson to come out, and Mack slipped into the car after he unlocked it. "I'm curious, is he always like that? I was torn between annoyed and impressed." Mack buckled her seatbelt as Coulson entered the car on the driver's side.

Coulson smiled as he did the same, starting the car a moment later. "Tony Stark has that effect on people."

"I'm not sure how Natasha hasn't killed him yet."

"It's not part of the job this time."

"Ah." Mack giggled as they pulled out of the driveway, nearing the road at a steady pace. "I just talked to Tasha though. It was good hearing from her again."

Not knowing what Natasha and Clint had been up to hadbeen one of the hardest parts, since she had always been with one or both of them. Worrying about them was something completely alien to her, and she was more convinced than ever that keeping her mother in the dark in regards to her career was the best decision.

Talking to Tasha had eased some of her worries, but she hadn't talked to Clint in over a month. She would have been lying if she said she was not nervous about seeing him again, considering how brutally their last meeting had gone. That argument had been rough, and though she had apologized, she still felt terrible for it.

"Romanoff is undercover as Natalie Rushman. She was Stark's assistant for a while, and is now Pepper Potts'. Her cover is still intact, and her mission appears to be going well."

"Fury told her to check in on me." Mack gave a small, genuine smile. "I'm sure she's enjoying her mission though. Tasha always loved a good undercover assignment. Is Barton still in Canada?"

"It was Colorado, and he's out of it now. He's floating a bit before Fury reassigns him, but there's a high chance that he'll end up in New Mexico with us." Coulson didn't go for the GPS in the little shelf between the seats, despite that being the first thing Mack would do.

(Of course, it was _Coulson_, so she was not surprised. Mack's sense of direction hovered between minuscule and nonexistent on the best of days.)

Coulson paused for a few seconds, as if debating whether to add another remark. "Barton and Romaoff pushed for you to come back," he said. He didn't bother glancing at Mack to see the small smile on her face at the news. "They care about you a lot."

"I know. I didn't talk to them much, but they were both on the job," Mack admitted. She shrugged as she unbuckled her seatbelt for a second, pulling off her leather jacket and throwing it in the back seat. "It's not that big a deal. I missed them though."

"Barton thought you needed time off."

Mack snorted. "I didn't agree with that."

"We all thought you needed it."

"I thought Fury was going to kill me when I tried to fight it." She fought back a yawn, only realizing just now how tired she was. "Dammit. Coulson, make sure I don't fall asleep."

(She was pretty sure Coulson would let her fall asleep even after she had just asked him not to, but Coulson had always done what he wanted, and Mack _was_ completely exhausted.)

She was surprised when Coulson added, out of the blue, "It's good to have you back, Mackenzie."

Mack leaned her head against the cool glass, looking out at the road for a few moments before she replied, her voice quiet, "It's good to be back, Coulson."

* * *

Mack woke a few hours later to a gentle shaking of her shoulder. "Wha-" she grumbled, blinking furiously to clear her vision. She yawned as she glanced around, relaxing a bit as she saw Coulson in the driver's seat. "I thought I told you not to let me fall asleep." She was surprised to see how dark it was outside, and wondered how far they were from New Mexico.

"You were in New York this morning and have been running around all day. You were always prone to a bit of jet lag." Coulson shot her a pointed look as he pulled the car into a gas station, stopping at one of the pumps. "Have you eaten at all today?"

Mack was silent. "I grabbed breakfast on my way out of New York."

"You left New York at 6 in the morning."

"I left at 6:30," she corrected, squirming under his gaze.

"You're eating something here." Coulson's tone left no room for argument, and Mack offered no reply other than an eye roll. "We don't know what's going to happen on this mission and you need to keep your energy up."

She nodded, distracted. "How did you convince Fury to let me back in?" Mack asked. She twirled a strand of light brown hair around her finger, watching Coulson carefully for his reaction. "I know you said that Barton and Romanoff pushed for me to come back, but I know that wouldn't be enough. I didn't think he was ever going to let me off leave."

"You needed that leave, Mackenzie," Coulson interrupted, and she knew the same argument is about to begin again. Mack knew he meant business immediately, even as he shot her the most dead solemn look she had ever seen on another person's face. "You needed to get away from SHIELD for a while."

(No, she didn't, because being away from SHIELD meant having _nothing to do_, and having _nothing to do_ meant _remembering Australia_ every time she looked in the mirror. Australia had _broken_ her, but she was not the shattered doll the others are treating her like.)

With more force than probably necessary, Mack unbuckled herself from the seat and opened the door. Before she exited, she turned back, shooting a glare more baleful she thought she could ever give Coulson.

"Here's the truth, Coulson," she snapped, "That leave? I didn't get away from Australia. It was there, every moment, the back of my mind. If I had been on duty, I could have been focusing on something other than what happened. Instead, I had nothing else to do other than sit around and wonder how I could have been so damn _blind_."

She stormed out of the car, slamming the door behind her before entering the gas station. She didn't glance at the cashier, instead focusing on getting to the restroom as Coulson entered the store her. As immature as it might have been, she made a point of slamming and locking the bathroom door behind her.

She stood there for a minute, leaning against the door, and then struggled to hold back a choked sob. She ran a hand through her light brown hair, breathing heavily before turning to look at herself in the grimy mirror.

She was the same as always. Same hazel-green eyes, same dark hair, small build. There was slight bulge on either side of her hips where a knife was hidden, and she could feel the ones against her thighs and in her boots. She probably had eight on her right now; four more were in her leather jacket, still in the back of Coulson's car.

(She was still Mackenzie Christine Donahue, she was still the girl she was a few months ago, but she _wasn't_. She had lost too much to be that girl now, but she didn't know whether to go forward or stay put, but she also knew she couldn't change the past.)

Mack swallowed before pulling her hair back, getting a good view of the side of her neck. A nasty, jagged scar sat there, and Mack swallowed before pulling her hair back down, obscuring it from view. When she looked back in the mirror, there are tears in her eyes.

She swallowed again and fought the tears back. She would not cry right now, not in some random gas station's bathroom while on her first mission back Australia. Clint had told her early on that every mission would leave scars, some more than others.

Mack had begun to realize that Australia left more than just scars.

(When she walked out of the bathroom and saw that Coulson has knocked out two robbers without breaking a sweat, she was not sure why her first reaction is to roll her eyes and realize how good it felt to be back.)

* * *

"You took out two robbers."

Coulson was already waiting for her back in the car and had started it by the time she got back in, only about a minute later. She shifted uncomfortably as Coulson gave her a light nod, and she wondered if he's ignoring her little rant a few minutes ago. She doubted it, but she appreciated him not bringing it up right away.

"They were unlucky tonight," Coulson admitted, pulling out into the road. He glanced back at the station as red lights appeared in the far distance. "Picked the wrong gas station."

"They literally had the worst timing in the world," Mack murmured, rolling her eyes and wishing she could have seen Coulson kicking their asses. She was jarred back to reality when he handed her a pack of powdered donuts. She took it with a raised eyebrow, surprised.

"I know you hate the chocolate ones," he mentioned, shooting her an amused look. Coulson held up a pack of the chocolate frosted donuts. "So these are mine."

She looked down at the donuts, and rolls her eyes fondly as she noticed the small plastic jug of chocolate milk sitting between the seats. Before Australia, Coulson constantly joked about her obsession with chocolate milk. She worried sometimes about how well Coulson knew her. "Thanks."

She hesitated briefly before continuing, but knew that the air needed to be cleared if she and Coulson were going to be relying on each other for this mission. Going on a mission with tension in a group was never a good idea, and god knew what was going to happen in New Mexico. Mack learned to expect absolutely anything on a mission, and she wouldn't stop that now.

"I'm sorry for exploding like that," Mack said, biting her lip as she looks out the window. She was less irritated than she expected when she noticed that yes, it was an endless scenery of sand and the occasional cactus outside the window, even in the dim lighting from the car. "I don't know. I just don't want to keep thinking about Australia."

"You needed space to breathe." Coulson sighed again before admitting, "We might have given you too much of it. And I wish we had time for a psych examination."

"I'm fine, Coulson."

"I trust you, and I trust you to tell me if you can't handle this. But I have to look out for your wellbeing even if you aren't. Especially if you're not. If you feel like this is getting to you-"

"It won't," Mack replied firmly. "I'm fine."

"If you feel like this is getting to you," Coulson continued, his voice firm as Mack fell silent again. "You tell me. SHIELD isn't going to give you up easily, but we want you to be in the best shape possible. Physically and emotionally."

"I'm okay," Mack whispered.

Coulson sighed. "Just do it for me then. For Barton and Romanoff. If you can't handle this, you tell me, because none of us want to force you into a situation you're not ready for. Okay, Mackenzie?"

Mack nodded once, briefly. "I know. But I'm ready."

(She couldn't tell if she was lying to him or to herself.)

* * *

**Author's Note:** And that's it for _Back to Start_! Please review! I'd love to hear from you, and remember, reviewers get a sneak peak of a later chapter and a review for one of their own stories!

**Chapter 4** - _Who We Were_  
She didn't know when the next agent would arrive, and didn't know who it was, but she hoped he or she would be able to deal with the fact that there were about twenty knives scattered in the van.


	4. Who We Were

**Author's Note:** Originally, I planned to be at the beginning of _Avengers_ by Chapter 10, and plotting decided "LOL, u wish sucka".

We were supposed to be out of _Thor_ by the end of Chapter 4 – this chapter. NOPE. We're still in _Thor_. We're still in the middle of the _Thor_ chapters because a certain conversation hijacked this chapter. Stupid hijacking. I love when a story gets ahead of itself.

Congrats though, you get further hints about Australia! You'll get the full story of Australia by the time we get to _Avengers_. When do we get to _Avengers_? Good question, but we'll get Steve by Chapter 9 though. I think. Right now that's the plan, but those plans can change.

As a note though, holy crap. Six reviews!? Thanks so much, all of you! I appreciate it so much. :D Thanks also go to those who favorited or put _Bohemia_ on alert. I appreciate it so much, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter, because we get a LOT of glimpses at just how damaged Mack is overall. I do owe the people who reviewed Back to Start reviews, which should be up this week sometime, because school promises to be busy.

Again, I don't own Avengers, only Mack Donahue. I hope everyone enjoys it, and please review! Plot hints for those who do. :) Thank you again, hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 4 - **_Who We Were  
_

* * *

**June 1, 2010**

"I hate sand."

"I might be wrong, but as far as I've always understood, you can expect sand when you visit New Mexico."

"Why did you drag me to New Mexico?"

"You were eager to get back in action."

"In a place where there wasn't sand." Mack was still scowling as she added, "And Fury ordered me. I'm not about to turn down my first mission back, but I wish I would have been warned about sand."

Coulson didn't reply as he parked the car. Despite how sunny it was, she dropped her sunglasses in the glove compartment. Mack grabbed a pair of binoculars from the same compartment (because of course SHIELD kept them in the glove compartment, because they were that paranoid about everything in life) before following him out.

The crater itself was huge, and Mack was surprised as how deep it was. She took a good look at it, amazed that there were dozens of people running around it. She took a look through her binoculars, her jaw dropping as she got a good look at everything in it.

"It's huge. Wait a minute. Is that a _hammer_?" Mack adjusted the binoculars, frowning at the image in front of her eyes. "It's a freaking _hammer_."

In the center of the crater was, in fact, a hammer, surrounded by a bunch of people trying to get it out of a rock. "What, did we find the Excalibur of hammers?" Mack wondered aloud, already feeling a headache springing in her head.

She paused again, gaping as she realized what the crowd was actually doing. "Are these people _tailgating_ around it?"

Coulson didn't answer her question (she was too busy shaking her head in disbelief to notice an answer anyway); instead, the older agent took off his sunglasses and pulled out his phone, not moving his gaze from the crater. Mack herself wondered whether it would have been better just to stay on leave than deal with drunken, idiot tailgaters.

Coulson's voice broke through her reverie a second later. "Sir, we found it."

* * *

They were in Puente Antiguo a few hours later. It was one of the tiniest towns that Mack had ever seen in her life, but a majority of the tailgaters had disappeared the moment that SHIELD had mentioned _radioactivity_. That excuse always worked out pretty well, and they were already setting up a camp around the crater.

Mack had gone with Coulson into town to appropriate the tech of a scientist who had been studying astronomical abnormalities in town that were apparently connected to the hammer at the bottom of the crater. Mack had been calling it Excalibur for lack of a better term, though it hadn't caught on yet.

She now stood in a small building that apparently served as the base of operations for the very small science team researching the anomalies.

"Who's research are we confiscating again?" she asked.

"Jane Foster," Coulson replied, handing her a phone. Mack took it, glancing down at the picture of a dark haired girl around her own age, maybe a few years older.

She continued to scroll, pausing as she reached one of the other pictures. Mack frowns at it, a bit surprised. It was of a silver-haired, older man, and it took her a few seconds to put a name to the face. "That's Erik Selvig," she realized, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"You know him?" Coulson asked, turning his attention back to Mack. He had been supervising the transfer of the equipment from the airy room to the several black trucks waiting outside.

"Of him," Mack corrected, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. She clicked through the next two images, both of dark haired women whose equipment they were apparently taking. "He taught at Culver. He was the advisor for my freshman year roommate."

"Will he recognize you?"

Mack considered it for a few seconds before shaking her head. "I doubt it. Culver's a decent size campus. I spent all my time in the psychology and sociology departments, and he was… astrophysics I think." At Coulson's nod of confirmation, Mack continued, "He won't recognize me."

"All three have connections to Culver. Jane Foster is a researcher there, and Darcy Lewis is a political science major."

Mack shrugged, unworried as she repeated, "I graduated two years ago, Coulson. I don't know any of them." She looks up at that moment and caught sight of a trio she recognized in a minute. Mack bit her lip before nodding towards them. "Coulson, they're here."

Jane Foster rushed in a moment later, looking frazzled and almost hysterical. "What the hell is going on here?" she demanded.

Coulson was already in his serious SHIELD agent mode. "Miss Foster, I'm Agent Coulson with SHIELD."

Mack remained where she was standing by several yellow chairs, studying the situation with a calm expression her face. She immediately noticed the look on panic that appeared on Selvig's face the moment that Coulson mentioned SHIELD.

Selvig hurried forward as Jane demanded, "Is that supposed to mean something to me? You can't do this!"

Selvig took her arm and grabbed her attention. "Jane!" Mack watched and listened carefully as the older man whispering, "Jane, this is a lot more serious than you realize. Let it go." Coulson just stands to the side, as calm and polite as ever as he watches Selvig and Foster.

Jane shot him an incredulous look as she stormed past him. "Let it go? This is my life!" She walked past Coulson as well, heading to a truck in the very back where a majority of the equipment had been placed. Coulson followed her, and Selvig and Darcy followed Jane. Mack held back for a second before following Coulson, though she remained a few feet away.

"We're investigating a security threat," Coulson explained as Jane shot a startled and disbelieving look on her face. "We need to appropriate your records and all your atmospheric data."

"By appropriate, do you mean steal?" Jane demanded as she attempted to get into the back of the van. The agent in the back stood between her and the research. Mack stepped forward then, nodding him away. The agent nodded back before doing so, and Selvig shot her a look.

"Here." Coulson handed Jane a check. "This should more than compensate you for your trouble."

"I can't just buy replacements at Radio Shack!" Jane exclaimed. Mack felt a stab of sympathy as she realized that yes; they were taking away this girl's entire life's work. Mack was also aware that they had to do this if they were going to figure out what was going on. "I made most of this equipment myself!" she added.

"Then I'm sure you can do it again."

The anger in Jane's eyes was easy to read, and Mack realized that this woman in front of her had probably never been as angry as she was right now. "And I'm sure I can sue you for violating my constitutional rights!"

A look of sympathy crossed Coulson's face, though Mack knew he was confident in what he was doing. "I'm sorry, Miss Foster, but we're the good guys."

"So are we!" Jane protested, desperate for an understanding. "I'm on the verge of understanding something extraordinary. And everything I know about this phenomenon is either in this lab or in this book, and you can't just take this away – hey!"

Mack sighed as Coulson briefly nodded at the book, and slipped behind Jane before taking the book out of her hand. She caught a glimpse of Darcy's shocked face, and also noticed the mix of resignation and surprise on Selvig's face. Mack placed the book in the book of the van.

A moment later, Jane lunged towards the back of the truck, trying to grab her book back. Mack grabbed her on instinct, trying to pull her back, even though she herself was only just taller than the physicist. Her body tensed out of instinct, ready for a fight, but she held back automatically, focused.

"Jane – hey, easy!" Selvig glared at Mack, and the SHIELD agent held up her hands in surrender, letting Jane go as Selvig pulled her away from the van. He transferred her to Darcy's hold a second later. "Easy. Jane…"

"Go on, Donahue." Coulson's tone was still infuriatingly calm, and Mack didn't argue. Instead, she shot one last look at the trio and headed to the front of the car, opening the door and slipping in a second later.

Coulson entered a second later, and they were driving away not a minute later. "This is why I like normal combat missions," Mack murmured, glancing back in the mirror at Selvig, Darcy, and Jane. "I don't like dealing with people in situations like this. Selvig was always a nice guy. Kayla loved him."

"We're trying to protect them," Coulson reminded her. Mack noticed that he didn't look back as he added, "I'm putting you in a surveillance van. If something weird happens, you're going to deal with it. Another agent will join you soon enough. He should arrive tonight."

"So move into the van once we get back?"

"Exactly. Surveillance is already set up. Take everything you've brought into there, that's where you'll be spending a lot of time." He paused before shooting her a significant look. "Please don't clutter it with your knives."

Mack only smirked in reply.

* * *

Mack took over the van with an energetic glee. It had monitors that gave her access to anything and everything going on around the base, and plenty of room for her knives and an assortment of guns. Mack has never been a fan of guns, but she recognized the use they had on occasion. She didn't know when the next agent would arrive, and didn't know who it was, but she hoped he or she would be able to deal with the fact that there were about twenty knives scattered in the van.

Plus, one of the other agents had snuck back into town and had gotten her the best burger she's had since she was a child from a small diner in town. All in all, it was a good first assignment back so far.

Minus the sand, of course.

That evening, Mack was sharpening a knife and snacking on a plate of miscellaneous snacks when the back door of the van opened. She glanced up, assuming Coulson is checking in on her or Sitwell is sneaking some of the French fries the other agent had brought back to base.

Her jaw dropped and the knife nearly slipped out of her hands as Clint Barton walked into the van, shooting her a grin. "Long time no see, Kenzie."

Mack's eyes widened as she set her knife back on the table, taking one of his two bags from him as he closed the door behind him. "When did you get here?" she asked, unable to stop a smile from forming.

"Twenty minutes ago." He dropped a bag onto the ground before unzipping the other, pulling out his bow. She watched as he placed it on the wall, within easy reach in case of an emergency. "I'm already briefed, so you and I are in here just in case something weird happens."

"Coulson didn't tell me it was going to be you." She stood as well as she can in the van, and didn't hesitate in giving Clint a quick hug. He squeezed her back, and she smiled at him briefly before sitting back down, picking her knife back up. "How was Colorado?"

"Easiest mission I've been on for five years." Clint laughed, sitting down on the other chair across from her. "I wish every mission was like it." He stopped for another few seconds, and Mack stiffened slightly as she realizes he's studying her.

"How are you?" he asked, and she knew instantly that it was not a superficial question.

(Mack had been through too much with, cared about, and respected Clint far too much to give him a superficial answer.)

She fiddled with her knives, unsure how exactly she wanted to answer his question. She began a moment later with what she considered a positive. "I haven't been having as many nightmares."

The admission came with the feeling of a weight being lifted off her shoulders. Clint was the only one who knew about her nightmares so far; not even Natasha was in the loop about them yet. She knew it was incredibly possible that she was dealing with some form of PTSD, but knew at the same time she had not displayed any other signs.

"But you're still having them?" Clint pushed.

Mack nodded. "Yeah." She heard Clint sigh, and looked up sharply, eyes narrowed as she added, "I'm okay, Clint. I promise, if I didn't think I could handle this, I wouldn't be here. "

"Bullshit." Clint's voice was calm, yet a slight twinge of amusement colored it as he added, "I know you too well. You could be bleeding to death and you'd still say that you could handle this. You _have_ been bleeding to death and have said you can handle it."

Mack gave a sheepish smile before adding, "Well, maybe."

Clint nodded, and his face turned serious a few moments later. "If they keep going, you go to me or Coulson. Understood?"

"Understood," Mack replied. She didn't hesitate to say what she had planned to the next time she saw him. "I'm sorry about that argument."

"You were angry, I was frustrated, we both said things we didn't mean," he replied. He shook his head. "It's over, Mack, and I don't hold any of it against you. We're fine."

Mack nodded, relieved at receiving what she hoped she would at her apology. "Coulson told me that you and Natasha fought for me to come back."

Clint nodded. He didn't seem surprised that she had just brought this up. "Fury wanted you to stay there for another month or so, but Natasha and I thought you might be going a bit insane with cabin fever."

"A bit insane with remembering, maybe," Mack muttered, unable to stop bitterness from coating her tone. She sighed before admitting, "I know you guys were trying to help me. I just don't think that a leave was the best thing for me."'

"You needed _something_. I'm just surprised Fury agreed to send you back in without a psych examination."

"Probably because he knows I could BS my way into a pass," Mack replied calmly, pointing out what she's sure had occurred to every higher up who had been debating what to do with her after Australia.

The eye roll she received told her that the exact thought had crossed his mind before. Clint's next remark surprised her. "If this goes well, I'm going to recommend your promotion to full agent."

Mack's jaw dropped and she just sat there, staring in amazement at Clint. For a few minutes, she was sure she misheard him, until she realized that no, she hadn't gone temporarily deaf, Clint had actually admitted that she might be promoted to full agent. "Wait, really?" she asked.

"You've been training for two years, have consistently proven that you can get the job done, have proven you're willing to go the extra mile for any agents and have proven you're loyal."

(Loyalty. Lovely word to use, especially when _loyalty_ had bitten Mack in the ass numerous times as of late. Stupid Australia was once again breaking her life apart at the core, and there was nothing she could do to stop it, like there was nothing she could have done to stop that traitorous bastard-)

"Kenzie, everyone has a mission that goes bad. God knows how many I've had." Clint's face darkened for a few moments, and Mack was struck with the realization of how little she knew about her SO's past. Sometimes, she was not sure if she wanted to know some of those details. "You can get past it. Don't let it destroy what you've been working at for years now."

"Don't let Nathan ruin everything," Mack finished for him, flinching as she said the name she hasn't mentioned for over a month.

Australia really had ruined everything. She realized that now, sitting in this van, wondering how she had been so blind for over a year, how one man had completely messed her up in every way possible. A flash of anger crosses over Clint's face at the mention of Nathan, but Mack was aware the anger was not directed at her.

"If you let Nathan ruin everything, I will kick your ass," Clint promised, shooting her a look that was only half-joking. "You are not allowed to let that traitor ruin everything. You're back here, aren't you? We trust you."

Mack nodded, and she felt another, greater weight disappear off her shoulders. She had no idea what she was supposed to stay in response to that. She appreciated every little thing that Clint had done for her over the years, but she had never loved him more than in this moment.

"You don't trust yourself yet though," Clint pointed out, watching her carefully.

She stiffened as she realized that her SO had pretty much hit the bull's-eye on that one. "I thought I was the one who read people." Mack knew she's avoiding the question, and she knew Barton would realize it instantly.

"I know you, Mack," Clint said, his tone more gentle. "And I know that you're going to be a fantastic agent. You just need to get past Australia and put your focus into what you can change instead of what you can't. Now answer the damn question. Do you trust yourself?"

"Not yet," she replied, surprised at how brutally honest her response is.

Clint nodded, but he didn't seem too surprised at her answer. "That's your new assignment. Learn to trust yourself again. That's an order."

There was silence in the van for nearly an hour after her admission. Mack fiddled with the knife in her hands as Clint split his attention between the numerous screens on one side of the van and keeping an eye on a pensive Mack.

For that hour, Mack drifted along with her thoughts. She could not remember the last time she had let herself just sit down and think about everything that had happened in the past few months. Nathan, Australia… she remembered constantly, and she knew she had learned from that nightmare, but she needed to get past it.

She needed to learn to trust herself again. If the others could, why couldn't she?

"Clint?" Mack said, her voice small. For a moment, Mack was not a trained agent who had been working under the man in front of her for two years. For that moment, Mack was the college graduate who had attacked Clint with a field hockey stick and had joined SHIELD not knowing what might come her way.

Clint looked back at her, raising an eyebrow as he waited for whatever she might have to say.

"Thanks," she whispered.

Clint didn't reply back, instead shooting her a half-smile that she knew meant they're completely good. Mack knew on some level Clint had recognized that she was walking out of the darkest period of her life, and she appreciated him being there for her, for pulling her out of it but letting her walk on her own when she needed to.

There were some parts of getting past Australia that Mack knew she had to get through by herself. But she knew she was not alone. Coulson, Tasha, and Clint had all reached out for her in the past few days. Even Fury had shown something that resembled concern for her mental well being, in his own Fury way. She knew they cared about what was going on with her, but she also knew she had to do it on her own.

(Maybe now she could start getting back to normal. Maybe now she can could get past Australia and Nathan and remember that she came into SHIELD to help people and prove herself. She had people who cared about her, and she wouldn't let them down, not when they had put so much faith into her time after time.)

It was right then that the alarm sounded. Clint looked up sharply, and Mack's feet dropped the floor of the van, her grip on her knife tightening to an almost painful degree. Coulson's voice rang out of the comm device on the table a few seconds later.

"Barton, Donahue, be ready. We've got a perimeter breach."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hope everyone enjoyed, and please review! The next chapter should be up sometime this week, as should the reviews for those who reviewed Chapter 3! :) As always, you get a plot hint about a later chapter if you review this chapter. Thanks again, and please review!

**Chapter 5** -_Thunder and Lightning_  
Mack winced as she watched the screens, lighting tapping her ear piece before adding, "This is painful to watch. He's good. Seriously, I don't mean good as in the normal good, I'm talking _Natasha_ level good."


	5. Thunder and Lightning

**Author's Note:** Um, holy crap. I got like a ton of reviews in a few days. I'm kinda honored, guys, I appreciate it so much! :D I love hearing and talking to you guys about this, seriously, it's been a blast talking to you all so far, and I hope to hear from you even more from here, because I can guarantee a fun part next chapter.

You guys picked up on a lot though, and I got a lot of questions about Nathan. You'll find out about him more over time, and you'll get his identity before _Avengers_ starts.

Hope you enjoy the hints in the meantime, and I'd love to hear your speculation on who he is and what his connection to Mack and Clint is.

First of all, I don't own _Avengers_, as always. I'm just playing in their sandbox. I own Mack and whatever trauma she comes with, which is a lot.

Please review, I'd love to hear from you, next update should be later this week, quite possibly tomorrow night or Wednesday. :)

Also, countdown to Cap's intro: four chapters. ;)

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 5 - **_Thunder and Lightning  
_

* * *

**June 1, 2010**

"Get eyes on it, Mack," Clint ordered instantly, moving away from the consoles to give Mack access to them. She was a fair hand at computers. She was nowhere near Coulson or Sitwell or Natasha's level, but she had enough talent with them to control them in a surveillance van like the one they sat in.

Mack moved her chair forward, scooting over to the laptop on the table across from their numerous weapons. "Got it. What exactly am I looking for?"

"Anything out of the ordinary," Clint replied grimly. "Keep an eye on the hammer, that's got to be what they're after."

Mack nodded. "Of course, because what else in New Mexico would be of enough worth to break into a SHIELD camp for. Seriously, what the hell is this thing?"

"Focus, Mackenzie." Barton didn't sound irritated, but rather relieved at the fact that Mack has returned to making irrelevant comments when they were supposed to be on a job. It was a sign that Mack was taking steps to getting back to normal.

"I know!" Mack typed furiously on the keyboard, searching every camera she could think of. It was then something shook the van outside, and Mack scowled as she recognized the sound of thunder. "Oh, wonderful. Rain. And thunder and lighting. Because the systems weren't taking enough shit from whatever that stupid hammer is."

"Just keep looking," Clint murmured, eyes narrowed as he studied the screens. "Keep looking."

It was then that Mack found him. It was obvious from his pace and lack of anything SHIELD oriented that he was the intruder they've been searching for. Mack also knew every man on base by sight at the very least; it was part of the job. She had never seen this man before in her life, and she gave a victorious grin as she nodded him out to Clint.

"Coulson, he's in the tunnels," Mack reported, tapping her earpiece to get their attention. She continued changing cameras to keep an eye on him as she added, "Heading… south. Very tall, blond hair, black parka, dark pants."

"Keep an eye on him Donahue," Coulson's voice came through.

"Understood." Mack continued typing, frowning as she struggled to keep track of him. Her jaw dropped as the blonde took down three agents like they were amateurs. He ran off a second later through another tunnel, and Mack continued clicking through the cameras. "Heading east, lost the black parka, now in a dark blue shirt."

Coulson didn't reply for a few seconds. "I need eyes up high. With a gun," he finally said, sounding grim.

Mack looked away from the computer as Clint stood, striding over to the weapons table. He went for a sniper rifle at first, but Mack was not surprised when he instead grabbed his bow. The look on his face was what Mack called his _SHIELD face_. Everyone had one; the agent on the mission was always different from the agent off the mission.

"Keep an eye on him," Clint ordered before hurrying out of the van. Mack nodded and pulled the doors shut after him, hurrying back to the computer.

"You up, Barton?" Mack asked about a minute later, after double checking that her earpiece was set to his frequency.

"Almost," Clint's voice replied, though it was slightly scattered from static.

"Good, because he's heading… north now." Mack clicked a few more of the keys, leaning back in his seat with a grim frown. "He's also tearing through our guys like they're wet tissue paper." Mack winced as she watched the screens, lighting tapping her ear piece before adding, "This is painful to watch. He's good. Seriously, I don't mean good as in the normal good, I'm talking _Natasha_ level good."

"I'll let her know you said that."

"Do." Mack smirked before adding, in an amused tone, "She misses you by the way."

"Focus, Donahue," Coulson's voice chimed out, a gentle reprimand before turning his attention back to the archer in the skies. "Barton, talk to me."

"You want me to slow him down, sir?" The time she had spent with him allowed Mack to easily pick out the amusement in Barton's voice as he added, "Or are you sending in more guys for him to beat up?"

"I'll let you know." Coulson sounded less than amused as he added, "Donahue, have your knives ready."

"Understood, sir." Mack stood, keeping an eye on the screens before slipping on her belt. She double checked to be sure each of her pockets had a knife in it.

"Do you need me to go in?" Mack asked after another moment. She reached over and picked up one of her longer knives, trying to figure out which of her knives would help the most, which ones would work best if they were going for capture or kill with this intruder.

"Not yet. Stand by though." Coulson sounded as in control as always, and Mack wondered how long it would be until she could reach Coulson's level of professionalism.

"Got it." Mack glanced at the screens before adding, "He's right near the hammer now. North side."

"Understood. Keep an eye on him."

Mack nodded, not bothering to answer as she remained standing in front of the console, frowning at the image in front of her. The intruder had just been knocked down by Jared Davis, one of the biggest men Mack had worked with in her life. He also happened to be one of the funniest people she knew from SHIELD.

Jared Davis was also among the most dangerous SHIELD security operatives that Mack had ever met.

"Davis is fighting him." Mack winced as the two crashed through the white walls of the tunnels and wrestled to the ground. "They're outside. You see them, Barton?" Mack asked.

"I've got them."

Mack watched as they wrestled through the mud, wondering if and when Coulson might call her to go out. She was much smaller and physically, probably weaker than this guy. But then again, she had at least twenty knives in the van, and could probably bring about ten out with her if it came down to her fighting him; twelve if she could squeeze another in each boot.

Mack planned as she watched the two brawl in the mud. For a moment, it seemed as though Jared was gaining the upper hand. It seemed that way, at least until the blonde gave one of the most powerful kicks that Mack had ever seen in her life, literally bringing both feet off the ground before kicking Jared in the center of the chest, sending them both to the ground.

"Holy shit." Mack sat straight in her chair, gripping a knife tightly as she repeated, "Holy shit. Coulson, Davis is going to need a medic." She raised an eyebrow as the blonde kicked Jared again, sending him into unconsciousness. "Yeah, Davis needs a medic."

Clint's voice broke through the static on the communications link. "Better call it, Coulson, 'cause I'm starting to root for this guy."

Mack watched as the blonde ripped through the white paper walls, finding his way right into the area that the hammer was planted. It was empty, and Mack had no doubt that Coulson had cleared it on purpose. Sure enough, Coulson appeared a moment later on one of the higher decks with full view of the situation below.

Clint's voice rang through, "Last chance, sir."

"Wait." Coulson sounded almost intrigued, and Mack couldn't deny that she felt the same. "I want to see this."

Mack sat back down, keeping a close eye on the situation from the cameras in the van. She watched as the man stepped forward, grasping the hammer and pulling it with his might. His face fell when his first attempt failed, and his second as well. Each try became more desperate, and his face looked more defeated with every try.

It was then he looked at the sky, and Mack watched as his heart practically broke on the screen. The intruder gave what only could have been called a howl of sorrow. Mack's heart went out to him. In that moment, the blonde looked absolutely lost, as if his entire world had been taken away from him. He fell to his knees, defeated and almost catatonic.

"Alright, show's over. Ground units, move in." Coulson seemed to be almost disappointed, and Mack stood after watching the blonde intruder being taken away over the monitors. His gaze did not leave the hammer until he had been physically turned around. Clint reentered the van a few minutes later, soaking wet, looking puzzled.

"Coulson said something weird might happen," Clint said, putting his bow back on the wall. "But even _that_ is weird for us."

Mack didn't answer, instead keeping her gaze on the monitors.

"Mack?" Clint said, frowning at her when she didn't reply.

"He thought something would happen," Mack reasoned, shaking her head before returning her knives to the table. "He expected something to happen when he picked up the hammer, and he gave up when didn't happen."

"What does it mean then?"

Her mind flew a mile a minute before she replied, in a lost tone, "I don't know."

* * *

Mack had always been good at reading people.

She realized early on after arriving in SHIELD that it was her knowledge in psychology and sociology that had brought her there. Along with the normal combat and espionage training that had come in that first year, she had been heavily trained in reading people further, manipulating them.

A majority of those skills had turned out to be heavily useful, and a routine had been formed as a result. Someone else – usually Coulson, Clint, or Natasha - would perform the interrogation, and Mack would observe, get readings off the subject, and be able to figure out what buttons could be pushed to get a result, what the subject was lying about, and how they could get the information they needed.

The irony that Mack's own interrogation techniques were shit had never lost on anyone.

A bit over an hour after the subject's rampage through the compound, Mack sat outside the interrogation room, keeping her eyes on the blond man who had torn through the site. He was still half soaked, as was a majority of the camp. Coulson looked almost unnaturally calm, but then again, Mack reminded herself, this was Coulson after all. He was always like this.

"You made my men, some of the most highly trained professionals in the world, look like a bunch of minimum wage mall cops." Coulson paused for a few seconds, and the man continued to look anywhere but at Coulson. "That's hurtful."

Mack had witnessed dozens of interrogations with Coulson. He was undeniably one of the best, and as far as she knew, he'd never resorted to torture. Mack was not a naïve idealist; she knew for a fact that SHIELD had occasionally gone to torture. It was never her call though, and she tried not to question it. They were trying to protect people, she would tell herself.

"In my experience, it takes someone who's received similar training to do what you did to them. Why don't you tell me where you received your training? Pakistan? Chechnya? Afghanistan?"

Mack had watched the rampage for another reason; to try and figure out where, exactly, this guy had found the training necessary to run through these soldiers. She had studied the footage of his rampage for nearly a half an hour before she had come to watch the interrogation.

"No," Coulson backtracked, studying him further. "You strike me more as the soldier of fortune type. Where was it? South Africa? Certain groups pay very well for a good mercenary like you. Who are you?"

The blonde did not answer, and only looked up at him. "He's lost," Mack murmured, unaware that she was speaking aloud for a moment. Lost was the only way to describe the blonde, but the question was why he was lost. That was the question SHIELD had to figure out; figure out why this man was lost, Mack reasoned, and they figured out who he was and why he wanted the hammer.

Coulson continued on the inside of the chamber. "One way or another, we find out what we need to know. We're good at that."

Mack pressed the button on the wall, a signal that would cause Coulson's phone to beep and tell him to come back outside of the interrogation room. Coulson had told her to signal him when she had something, but considering the circumstances, she knew he would understand why she was bringing him out.

His phone beeped, and he glanced down at it. "Don't go anywhere." He left the room a second later.

On the other side of the glass, Mack rolled her eyes. "He's planned that line for a long time."

"I don't doubt it," Agent Sitwell replied, looking a bit amused as well.

Mack had worked with Sitwell a few times over the years, in particular the mission to Rome last year she had taken with Natasha. Jasper Sitwell was a good man, and one of the ones she most frequently worked with at SHIELD. He had sat with her during the interrogation; Clint would have normally been there, but Coulson had sent him back to the van to keep watch over the camp.

Coulson walked out of the room a moment later, heading right to where Mack was standing. Sitwell was sitting a bit off to the side, and both men turn their attention to Mack. She herself didn't look at either of them. Mack instead kept watching the captured subject (Blondie, she nicknamed him in her mind), trying to figure out anything about him.

"Who is he, Donahue?" Coulson asked.

Mack didn't answer for a few moments. Blondie was sitting there, a blank look on his face, and she couldn't stop the beat of pity that went through her. Along with that pity was intrigue, surprise, and even a slight bit of irritation. But above all was a desire to try and do her job and figure out anything she could about the man in front of her.

Of course, Mack had never been too proud to not admit she had figured out nothing.

"I don't know," Mack admitted. Coulson looks slightly surprised that she didn't have anything. Mack ran a hand through her hair as she added, "Whoever he is, he expected something to happen when he took that hammer."

"That much is obvious," Sitwell said.

"No, he expected something to happen. Something specific, and he knew exactly what should have happened." She only half realized that she's fiddling with one of her smaller knives – if she was right, it's the Swiss army knife Clint have given to her a few months ago for Christmas. Mack had always worked better when her hands were busy.

She gestured at the glass again, finally looking away from the intruder and at Coulson. "Look at his face, Coulson. He's heartbroken. Why? He knows something about that hammer." She gestured again before adding, "And if he knows something, he knows more than we do."

Coulson looked thoughtful before adding, "Anything else?"

Mack nodded; she had something at least, no matter how minor it might have been. "Look at the way he's sitting. He's been beaten up and clearly just went through a major emotional trauma, and is still sitting up straight. His posture's good. Few mercenaries are going to have that good posture."

Mack shrugged again, slipping her knife into her pocket before taking a step forward. "Old money, maybe. I don't know. It'd be nice having… I don't know… anything on the guy. He's been through some form of insane training, obviously."

"Is it possible drugs are at play?" Sitwell asked. Mack and Coulson turned to him in surprise as Sitwell added, "A steroid, anything. Would training be able to provide that level of skill?"

Mack considered it for a few seconds. "…I don't think so. I see no other side effects that would indicate drug use. And I'd like to know a drug that can make a guy go Liam Neeson on security like that. Intense training, no drugs, possibly old money."

"Anything else?" Coulson asked.

Mack frowned, taking another glance at the man in interrogation, before turning back to Coulson. "Keep him talking," she advised, "I might be able to pick something up from an accent, I just need to hear enough. I can't pull the facts out of thin air, Coulson, I need something from him."

"Just keep trying." Mack nodded as Coulson headed back into the interrogation room.

"When's the last time you slept, Donahue?" Sitwell asked once Coulson had left. He frowned at her, and Mack could see the genuine concern in his eyes.

"Awhile, but I don't have time now," Mack replied, shooting Sitwell a sharp look before adding, "I appreciate it, but I'm okay. I promise. I'm not going to random collapse on everyone" Sitwell didn't look convinced, and instead continued to give her a pointed, determined look.

Realizing that the older agent was not going to let it go, Mack gave a sigh of defeat before adding, "Wake me up in an hour."

Sitwell looked satisfied as he replied, "Will do. Go on. We'll have recordings for you to go over then."

Mack gave a mock salute before heading back to the small barracks, realizing that a bit of sleep might do her a bit of good.

* * *

Sitwell had lied, of course, and didn't wake her up after an hour. Mack ended up with two hours of sleep, and was only awoken when someone shook her shoulder. "Mack, wake up, Coulson wants you," a voice said, shaking her shoulders gently. "Gotta get up."

Mack was awake instantly, sitting up straight as she looked up. She rubbed her eyes for a second before she realized who had just woken her up. "Hey," she greeted, shooting Clint a dark look as she realized how long she had slept. "Sitwell lied to me."

"I asked him to. You haven't slept since before you and Coulson arrived in New Mexico." Clint looked completely at ease for the act, and Mack couldn't lie that she was grateful for the chance to get some sleep.

(She swore that Clint acted as her older brother more often than her SO. She was also fully aware that she filled the mold of annoying little sister to him with relative ease. Mack also knew that Clint had a protective instinct for her that rivaled her actual older brother Sean's. There was no other relationship she had been as grateful for as Clint's however, and knew that there was very little they wouldn't do for each other.)

"Ugh." Mack stood, pulling on her black over shirt before sitting and tying her boots back on. "How's everyone after Blondie plowed through everyone?"

Clint sighed as he pulled his own jacket off; Mack realized he was probably going to grab a few hours of sleep while he could. "He tore through them. Jared has two broken ribs, and everyone is pretty bruised. Jackson has a broken arm. Delancey has a bad concussion, but everyone should be fine."

Mack bit her lip. As young as she might have been, she knew a majority of the agents at the camp. She had friends all over SHIELD. She had gone through some of basic training with Jackson. She'd had drinks with Jared in New York at least a dozen times. She had attended Delancey's daughter's Christening back in January.

The knowledge that someone had gone through them like they were nothing was not a pleasant one to Mack, and her intrigue at who Blondie could be was overrun with the fact that he had hurt some of the people she cared about.

If there was anything that set Mack off, it was the people she cared about getting hurt.

"You said Coulson wanted me?" Mack asked, looking back up at him.

"Blondie's got a visitor," Clint explained. "Coulson wants you to be there."

Mack shot him a startled look. "A visitor."

"A visitor." Clint shot her a grin before lying down on the bed she had just abandoned. "Good luck."

Mack sighed as she began to realize that she was most likely in for a very long night.

* * *

"His name is Donald Blake?"

A few minutes later, Coulson stood at the top of the stairs, watching Erik Selvig, the expression on his face unreadable except to Mack. The younger agent could practically see the gears in Coulson's head turning as he found ways to turn this turn of events to his advantage. Mack had no doubt that Coulson had a way within the minute he had found out Erik Selvig had come to the site.

"Dr. Donald Blake." Selvig nodded in confirmation. He looked incredibly uncomfortable surrounded by SHIELD agents, and Mack couldn't blame him. She did wonder what would have been important enough for Selvig to put himself through this discomfort and in the middle of SHIELD.

"You have dangerous coworkers, Dr. Selvig," Coulson said, and Mack realized he was just as amused as he had always been. Once in a while, she wondered what Coulson was like when he was actually not amused, but that day would not be a pretty one for any of them.

"He was distraught when he found out that you've taken all our research," Selvig explained.

Mack could understand that at least. Jane Foster had looked beyond devastated when SHIELD had confiscated the research. But if he had been a part of the team, where had he been when SHIELD had actually confiscated the equipment? Puente Antiguo was not that big a town. Mack was picking out the flaws in his story a mile a minute, and knew Coulson was as well.

"That was years of his life, gone!" Selvig continued. "You can understand how a man could go off like that! A big, faceless organization like yours coming in with their jackbooted thugs and…"

Selvig stopped when he noticed the look on Coulson's face. A bit behind Coulson, Mack snickered lightly, though it remained unnoticed by the others. "That's how he put it," Selvig finished, seeming as though he wished he could be anywhere but there in that moment.

"That still doesn't explain how he managed to tear through our security," Coulson pointed out.

"Steroids!" Selvig explained, waving his arms. He had an answer prepared for that one at least. "He's a bit of a fitness nut."

"Sir."

Mack and Coulson both glanced at Sitwell, who was seated at a computer console where he had been scanning Donald Blake's ID. Somehow, Mack was not surprised when it came out confirmed as a falsified document. Of course it had to be fake; no one's ID picture looked as good as the one in that picture. Mack's own driver's license was proof enough of that.

"It says here he was an MD," Coulson mentioned, turning his attention back to Selvig.

"Well, he is! Or he was. He switched careers and became a physicist. A brilliant physicist. He's a wonderful man. He's a man in pain." Selvig could think on his feet, at the very least. Mack could respect that.

"That part's not a lie, at least," Mack muttered to Sitwell, who nodded briefly.

Mack glanced at Coulson, and resisted the urge to groan when she recognized the look on the senior agent's face.

"Agent Sitwell, if you would escort Dr. Selvig to collect his friend?" Coulson asked, turning back to Sitwell. The other agent looked a bit surprised, but regained his composure and nodded in confirmation a second later.

"Anything you got on Selvig?" Coulson asked Sitwell led Selvig back into the interrogation room.

Mack gave a light snort as she watched the two of them go into the back room, with Donald Blake following them a second later. "He's lying his ass off, but I don't I needed to tell you that," she said.

"And?"

"And going to the trouble of serving false documents to _SHIELD_? Selvig knows something, but from what I know of the guy, I don't think it's anything too dangerous. He might be doing it for Foster." Mack paused for a moment before adding, "I'm assuming you have a plan?"

Coulson smirked. "Maybe you aren't as rusty as we thought you might be." Mack shot a mock glare at him as Selvig led Blake past the two. Mack watched the two, raising an eyebrow as Blake grabbed Foster's book from a table they passed. "Good reflexes."

"We'll let him take it." Coulson raised his voice, "Dr. Selvig! Just keep him away from the bars."

The two had stopped as soon as Coulson had called the doctor's name, and even the untrained eye could see the tension in their bodies.

"You did that on purpose," Mack accused, rolling her eyes.

"I might have," Coulson admitted, and Mack grinned. As she watched the two leave, Coulson's next order somehow did not surprise her at all.

"Donahue, follow them."

Mack nodded. "Understood."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hope everyone enjoyed it! :) Hope to hear from you guys again, thank you so much for all the reviews! I appreciate it so much.

Next chapter might include a Thor/Mack conversation. Maybe. Okay, yeah, it includes a Thor/Mack conversation. Hopefully that is incentive.

I'll hopefully update ASAP, but I'd love to hear from you guys in the meantime. Thanks again!

**Chapter 6** - _Game of Spies_  
Mack rolled her eyes in irritation before snapping, "Coulson, they are literally just sitting under the stars and talking. I feel like I'm spying on a romantic comedy. Seriously, I did not come back to work to deal with sand and romantic comedies!"


	6. Game of Spies

**Author's Note:** I lied. About the countdown to Steve I mean. We were supposed to wait another three chapters… but Steve's introduction will begin officially in Chapter 8! :D

I moved it up because you guys have been so incredibly patient when I think you guys are as eager as I am to get him in here and have his and Mack meet. Which means you guys will probably see him by this weekend.

Because it's kinda cute, guys. Their meeting I mean. AND I CANNOT WAIT. Also, Thor and Mack's conversation throughout here is kinda important. So pay attention to it.

Anyway, I don't own Avengers, as always, and as always, thank you to my lovely reviewers, favoriters, and subscribers. I love you all like Coulson loves his trading cards. 3 Hope to hear from you after this one, because next chapter is fun.

Chapter 7 is aftermath of this. Chapter 8 is the beginning of the intro. WE ARE ALMOST AT STEVE, GUYS. WE ARE ALMOST THERE.

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 6** – _Game of Spies_

* * *

"You've got everything?"

Mack ran through her mental checklist again before nodding in confirmation. "I'm good."

Selvig and Blondie (she refused to call him Donald Blake, because SHIELD now knew for a fact that the real Donald Blake was still in New York, and was in fact a brunette) had left ten minutes ago, and Mack had grabbed what she needed for an emergency recon assignment. Following the two wouldn't be difficult, but Mack had always tried to be prepared.

The last time she had gone in unprepared had not ended well for anyone. Mack frowned and pushed Australia away again (that was what she did on instinct now. She knew she had to face Australia and what happened eventually, but not now, not when she was in the middle of a mission that had so many unknown variables around it).

She would face Australia later. Not now.

"No risks, Mackenzie," Coulson ordered, shooting her a serious look. She automatically nodded, and watched Coulson with as calm a look on her face as he spoke. "You watch them, and do not approach unless the situation demands for it."

"Make a judgment call?" Mack asked.

Clint gave a grim nod. He had left the temporary barracks as soon as Sitwell had warned him that Mack was about to be sent back into the field. "Exactly. Report in when you can, do not be seen."

"Understood. If he approaches me?" Mack shot them both dark looks as she added, "I think he's smarter than we're giving him credit for. What do I do if he realizes I'm watching him?"

Coulson paused. "Judgment call," he replied, looking satisfied with the answer he gave

Mack felt a small stem of panic burst through her (dammit, bad things happen whenever the higher ups trusted Mack to give a judgment call, she was quite possibly the only one remembering that), but forced it back as she replied, her tone almost amused, "Damn. Lot of trust in me for this mission."

"It's well put. Good luck," Coulson squeezed her shoulder before walking away, heading back towards the main center of the base. She watched as he walked away, and took another deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

Mack glanced at Clint before heading out of the base, towards the black jeep she would be appropriating for the mission. She slipped a hand into her pocket, smiling slightly when she confirmed that yes, the object she had spent awhile looking through earlier was still there, safe and sound. She wanted to keep it for the next time she saw Darcy Lewis.

Mack sighed as she stopped next to the jeep. "I can handle this," she said, looking at Clint. She knew that she was saying it more to herself though.

Clint sighed before giving a confident nod. Mack knew it was something of a lie. Both of them had Australia on their mind at that very moment, and it made Mack more than a little nervous.

Australia had broken Mack (her heart, her trust in herself, everything), but it hurt her the most that it had broken something in Clint and Mack's relationship. She knew that it was slowly getting back to normal, but she would never forgive herself for letting Australia hurt that relationship.

"If this goes wrong," Barton said, his tone rougher than she was used to, "Call me immediately. You have good instincts, and you need to listen to them."

"Relax," Mack shot back, biting her lip before snapping, "Neither of us wants a repeat of Australia. I'll call you the moment something goes wrong this time. Okay?"

Clint looked a bit relieved as he nodded. "Be careful," he said, and Mack sighed as she noticed the genuine concern in his eyes.

"That an order?" Mack asked, cracking a smile at the man who had mentored her for over two years now.

In reality, Mack knew that Clint had taught her more than any person on the planet. His opinion meant a lot to her and the fact that he still had confidence in her helped her more than anything. Clint wanted her to get past what happened in Australia, and he wanted to help her get over it. She knew that she would never be able to repay him for everything he had done for her over the years.

But she could try to prove that he hadn't screwed up by training her and turning her into a SHIELD agent.

Clint smirked. "Absolutely. No risks. Trust your gut, watch them. If you end up in direct contact… well, you can handle it. I can deal with Fury. I trust your gut, Mack, and I know you can handle this. Good luck."

Mack smiled. "Thanks."

(She had a feeling she would need it.)

* * *

Mack was somehow not surprised to find that they had gone to a bar.

She had taken up a position in the back of the bar, claiming a small booth in the corner as her own. Alcohol was always a no-no on a mission (she's much more of a wine girl anyway), so she settled herself with a soda and relaxed, playing on her phone and keeping an eye on them. She had almost forgotten how boring it could be to follow people.

(She wouldn't lie, she had also been sure to check out the newest pictures of her nephews, because she had three of them now, each eighteen months away from the other one, and Mack honestly believed that her brother Sean and his wonderful wife Rebecca were absolutely insane, and she had finally messaged her mother that she had gotten back to work.)

At some point, she had snuck to the bathroom to update Coulson (not that there was anything to update him about, since they had just been in the bar for over an hour and a half, and she had been sure to point out that she had literally been sitting in a bar for a half an hour and had redirected four different guys since then) and she had been sure that Blondie had been watched her for a few seconds as she walked back from the bathroom. Selvig was still well on his way to getting drunk, and Mack almost wished she could do the same.

It was a half an hour later, after Selvig was drunk enough that Mack knew he would heavily regret it tomorrow morning, that Blondie stood from the bar and walked over to sit with her in the booth she had camped in.

Mack raised an eyebrow as he sat down, and gave him a blithe smile as she said, "Okay, blond guys are my type, so I'll give you that."

"You have been following us since we left," Blonde said, his face cold and his tone business. His voice was deeper than she expected. She was frustrated that she could not place his accent for the life of her, but she would have guessed somewhere in Europe if she absolutely had to. "Why?"

Mack gave a dry smile, her playful attitude dropping as quickly as he had come over. "You're more observant than I thought you were." She held out a hand, adding in a calm voice, "Agent Mackenzie Donahue. I'm with SHIELD, obviously."

Blondie nodded, watching her carefully for a moment, but did not take her hand. "You are a warrior."

Mack frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"You have knives concealed on your body. I saw the signs when you were walking." Mack raised an eyebrow in surprise, tilting her head to the side as she listened. He took another look at her before adding, "At least six if I am correct. But my question is why you are following us."

Mack frowned at him, startled. "You _are_ good," she admitted, leaning back in her seat and studying him. "But it's more than six."

He didn't say anything for a few moments. Mack tilted her head to the side, shooting him a half smile as she added, "Blondie, you tore through at least twenty of some of the top agents in the country. I wouldn't wonder why you're being followed."

Being told that SHIELD was in fact following him and Selvig seemed to have less effect on him than his nickname did. "Blondie?" he asked, shooting her an almost hurtful glance.

"Your name obviously isn't Donald Blake, and you're obviously not going to tell me your real name, so I'm calling you Blondie until further notice." She nodded firmly before adding, "Deal with it."

His response surprised her. Instead of glaring or giving some other reply, he instead watched her carefully for a few moments. He gave a genuine smile a moment later as he studied her.

"What?" Mack asked slowly, raising a confused eyebrow in return.

"You remind me of a friend." That lost, sad look returned to his face, the same look that had come when he had failed to pull the hammer out of the rock. "I miss her."

"Sorry," Mack replied, a bit awkwardly. She glanced over at Selvig, obviously drunk out of his mind. For a few moments, she struggled with what she could possibly do. There was no way that Selvig was going to be able to find his way to a bathroom, let alone Foster's trailer.

"I do not want him harmed," Blondie warned, shooting her a threatening look as he realized she had been watching Selvig.

"Relax. We don't want them hurt either." Mack glared back, and the two stared each other down for a few moments before she added, "You have it on my father's grave that no harm will come to him, Lewis, or Foster while I'm watching you all. And Coulson won't hurt them either. It's not our style."

That got a reaction out of him. A flinch of absolute, unbridled pain crossed his face at her mention of the words _father's grave_. Mack frowned, wondering what exactly might have happened there. It had to be somewhat recent, giving the intensity of the pain she had seen there, but there was no telling what exactly had happened.

And there it was again – the pity she felt for him. Along with that pity was suspicion and even a bit of anger. Some of her friends had been hurt in that rampage. SHIELD agents would look out for each other when they could. Mack knew that she had gotten lucky with the people around her – Coulson, Sitwell, Natasha, and Clint all had looked out for her over the years, and she appreciated it.

They trusted her judgment. Mack reminded herself of that as she made her choice.

"Come on," she sighed, standing up and walking to the bar. She turned back to Blondie before adding, "Get Selvig. I'll pay for your drinks and mine and meet you outside."

She did so, and walked out of the bar a few minutes later, a bit surprised to see Blondie still there, supporting the drunk-out-of-his-mind Selvig.

"You?" the older man demanded, looking increasingly confused as he caught sight of her.

Mack grinned. "Yep, me." She gestured towards the black jeep at the end of the parking lot. "Here, put him in the back seat. I'll drive you back to Foster's place."

"Why are you helping?" Blondie asked, shooting her a suspicious look. He readjusted

"Do you know how to drive?" Mack asked him, raising an eyebrow as he went silent. "Do you know where Foster lives? Do you know how to get there?" He remained silent, and Mack's grin turned to a cheeky smile as she added, "I didn't think so. Now get in the car. I might be a SHIELD agent, but I'm not going to let him drive back when he's that drunk."

He did not move, and Mack sighed, mentally debating whether to say anything or not. "My dad was killed by a drunk driver," she finally said, knowing that it was probably letting too much information loose too soon. "And it's kinda against my moral code to let others drive drunk."

On some level, Mack knew she was being manipulative. She had learned over the years that some skill at manipulation was called for at SHIELD. Mack had seen the look on Blondie's face at the mention of the words father's grave. Something had happened to Blondie's father, and Mack pushed back the guilt she felt for exploiting that his pain.

But Mack knew she was a SHIELD agent and that she did what she had to do.

Blondie hesitated for a few more seconds before opening the back door of the jeep and helping Selvig into it. Mack bit her lip, looking up at the stars before getting into the car herself.

(She wouldn't think about her father. Not tonight.)

* * *

It only took a few minutes to drive back through town, and Mack remembered where Foster's lab and trailer were. She helped Blondie pull Selvig out of the van, and had watched them get safely to Foster's trailer. Just before he had opened the door, Blondie had turned back and watched her for a few seconds.

"Thank you for your assistance," Blondie said as he helped Selvig towards the van.

"My pleasure." Mack gave a mock curtsy. "Have a good night."

She paused just before she got back into her jeep, and then made another decision.

"Hey."

It took a moment for Blondie to look back, and the look he gave her was almost a mix between suspicion and even a bit of respect. Mack stood there for a minute, deciding her words carefully. She knew that she had been treading a thin line with what she had just done, but it was something that had to be done.

"Keep the book, and give Miss Foster my apologies at least. But we're trying to help people." Mack smirked at the look of surprise on his face. She walked away then, but paused and turned before shooting him a half smile.

"And just remember… we're not the bad guys."

* * *

"I don't think he's human," Mack admitted.

She had camped out on a rooftop where she could easily keep an eye on the lab. A thin blanket was spread over her legs, and she gripped her phone tightly. Blondie and Jane Foster were chatting on the rooftop on top of the lab, directly across from her, and Mack was splitting her focus between talking to Clint, not freezing to death, and spying on them.

"Do you realize how insane you sound right now?" Clint demanded. He had been asleep when she had decided to call, but had hid it reasonably well up until this point.

"You told me once that this world is batshit insane and that I needed to learn to expect any possibility to come up in my missions," Mack pointed out, running a hand through her hair. She was surprised not to find icicles in it.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have told you that if I knew you would quote it back at me so much," Clint grumbled.

"Barton, I'm serious," Mack protested. "There is no other possibility. That level of strength and training is nearly impossible without SHIELD influence somewhere in there, and there are no records of him. I know, I checked with Sitwell before I left. "

"So who is he then?"

"A product of the super solider program, a leftover or something, or Ross being stupid and causing even more trouble than we thought he might be, maybe." Mack shook her head, frustrated with the lack of answers. "I don't know."

After a thought, she added, "Don't tell Coulson yet, I don't want anyone getting overexcited on my wild guess."

"Which it is, by the way." She had always appreciated Clint's honesty with her, but right now she was more than a bit irritated with it. "You need proof, and you need to watch them."

"Relax, Barton. I didn't let them drive, since I know for a fact Selvig was drunk off his ass and Blondie had no idea where anything was."

"You drove them to Foster's trailer?" Clint asked. "Mack…"

"What was I supposed to do, let them drive drunk? You knew I couldn't do that," Mack said, her ton ea bit sharper. Before Clint could add something else, she continued, "And besides, this might have helped a bit. Blondie realized that we're not all the bad guys."

"You also clued them in to the fact that they were being watched."

"If Selvig didn't think they were being watched, he's far less intelligent than we gave him credit for. And Blondie recognized me at the bar. I was there with Coulson for a bit and he saw me when he left."

"You're on thin ice here, Mack," Clint warned.

"I'm more than willing to explain all my actions to Fury and Coulson after this. We want to find out who he is, don't we? I hold to my actions, Clint. Please, trust me."

"Fine." Clint didn't sound too happy, but Mack was relieved that he would trust her for this. "But when this blows up in your face, I warned you."

"It won't." Mack promised before adding, "I need to call Coulson and give him an update. I'll call you again later. Just be careful. Let me know if something goes wrong." Mack knew that Clint had confidence in her, but after seeing what Blondie had done to their coworkers, she couldn't blame him for being a bit worried.

(She would deny it until her last breathe, but there was a feeling of absolute dread in her gut that would not go away, and she had no idea what had caused it.)

* * *

She had a check-in with Coulson around three in the morning.

"Are they doing anything?" he asked.

"Sitting under the stars. Still talking." Mack shivered again before adding, "I'm freezing to death in a freaking desert."

"They're doing nothing else?"

Mack rolled her eyes in irritation before snapping, "Coulson, they are literally just sitting under the stars and talking. I feel like I'm spying on a romantic comedy. Seriously, I did not come back to work to deal with sand and romantic comedies!"

"Keep watching, Donahue," Coulson replied, completely ignoring the majority of her rant. "Someone should be there to stay with you by morning."

He hung up a moment later, and Mack settled down on the ground, keeping an eye on the two and wondering how it was possible it might have been for this whole situation to be revenge from Fury for the Rome incident last year with Romanoff.

* * *

By the next morning, there were three other groups watching the small lab. They were scattered across town, and Mack was still on her rooftop, all alone, watching the group of four eat breakfast. She wish she had her own breakfast at this point. She was beyond starving.

Mack had somehow ended up by herself (she was sure Coulson had a hand in it, she knew he wanted to see how she could work alone and closely with other groups she wasn't used to), closest to the lab. She knew that they probably were aware she was watching them, but she was doing her job at least.

Her radio buzzed at that point. "Group 2 to Donahue, we have activity outside the time. Stay on the target."

Mack sighed before replying, "Donahue here. Understood."

It was then she noticed the group of four walking towards the lab, a purpose in their stride. For a few moments, Mack had hoped she was hallucinating out of exhaustion or hunger (because frankly both were highly possible at that point in time), and immediately called Group 2. "Group 2, Donahue here. Please tell me there's a renaissance fair or costume festival in town. I am begging you."

"Negative, Donahue. We saw them too. Should we call it in?"

Mack groaned, realizing again that this entire mission had completely grown out of control. Coulson should have never had uttered the cursed words. "Base, I have Xena, Jackie Chan, Robin Hood, and freaking Gimli here now. All in costume."

She sighed as she turned off the walkie, watching the reunion between the group in the lab in front of her. "I'm not getting paid enough for this shit."

It was then that she noticed the funnel.

Further shock rose in her, and that dreaded feeling in her gut intensified to the point of being painful. SHIELD instinct took over at that point. She grabbed a knife, taking a deep breath before setting it down on the ledge of the roof, within easy reach. The next thing Mack did was pull her phone from her pocket and call Sitwell, since Coulson would probably be dealing with whatever was going on with the giant funnel of doom.

"Sitwell, Donahue. Could you please tell me what is going on with that giant funnel thing that's a bit away from town? I can see it from here." Mack's voice did not betray the internal panic she felt.

"We have a giant robot." Sitwell's voice was muffled for a few seconds, but Mack heard him ask, "Is that one of Stark's?"

"I don't know. The guy never tells me anything," Coulson's muffled voice came through her and Sitwell's call.

Mack bit her lip, unable to shake the feeling of dread in her gut. She ran a hand through her hair before glancing back down at the motley crew standing together in the doorway of Foster's lab. The looks on the faces of the weirdly-dressed one only added to the feeling of panic in her throat, and she knew instantly that this would

She could dimly hear Coulson on the megaphone over the phone, but heard no reply from whatever he was talking to.

"Incoming!" Coulson's voice yelled, and Mack's jaw dropped in shock as the sound of _something_ ripped through the phone. She realized instantly that it was the sound of _something_ blowing up.

It was then that Sitwell's signal cut out, and the panic rose higher in Mack's throat. "Sitwell?" she demanded, eyes wide. "Agent Sitwell! Jasper, answer me! What happened?!"

That was when Mack saw the blasts in the distance, and realized how far in over her head she was.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Next chapter includes Darcy and Fury. That should get you interested. :) Please review, darlings, hope to hear from you soon! Thanks for reading!

**Chapter 7** – _Brave New World_  
Fury's one eye narrowed at her. "Do you want to go back on leave?" he asked. "Because I can make it happen. Or a desk job. Whichever would drive you more crazy."


	7. Brave New World

**Author's Note:** I was going to write out the Destroyer's attack. But now I'm impatient to get to Steve and Mack's meeting and everything else, so instead I focused on the aftermath.

Plus, that Darcy/Mack conversation that memo bonafide mentioned? Went way overboard, because they BONDED. LIKE REALLY BONDED. And they're both pop culture nerds so that came into play here. Just PM me if any of the references pass you.

Oh, and look. Tasha's back.

Also, more Nick Fury, because we need more Nick Fury and because I wanted to delve into Fury and Mack's dynamics a bit. There might also be some Clintasha hints in here. Because it might have been needed because I ship Clintasha like no one's business.

CAP'S INTRO BEGINS NEXT CHAPTER BTW. It will be several chapters long BUT GUYS STEVE WILL BE HERE SOON. This is where the fun begins!

It's a shorter chapter, but that shouldn't be too big a deal because of who's coming in now. As always, I don't own Avengers or any associated acts. I own Mack and I love her to death because she'll be a bit more put together next chapter.

Please review, and thanks to everyone for supporting _Bohemia_ so far!

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 7** – _Brave New World_

* * *

**June 1, 2010**

Hours after the dust and blood and chaos had settled, Mack sat in the open back of a SHIELD truck with Darcy Lewis. Neither was seriously injured, but both were exhausted, and were taking the chance for a break while it was available.

"He was a god," Mack said, her tone flat. Her black jacket had been taken off earlier, and there were now at least twenty stitches in her arm from where glass shards had ripped into her. She winced as she moved her arm again. "He was a freaking _god_. Holy shit. No wonder he tore through the guys."

"I think he was an advanced alien or something." Darcy shrugged as Mack just stared at her. "I don't know, I just kept thinking about Mew Mew." Mack shot her a confused look. "That was the hammer," Darcy explained.

They were silent for a few minutes as Mack struggled to recollect how exactly she had ended up in the back of this van with Darcy Lewis.

Once it was clear that something big had been heading to town, Mack had retreated from her roof and had helped to evacuate the town while the other Asgardians (she never had heard the other names, but wondered once or twice whether the brunette warrior woman was who Thor had mentioned her reminding him of in the bar) had fought against the giant machine that had, like Thor, torn through SHIELD agents like they were mall cops.

Even as chaos had exploded over the town, Mack knew that she had to stay at and watch the battle. SHIELD needed to know that no, they were not alone in the universe, and yes, they were hilariously under powered when compared to the rest of them.

Thor (that was Blondie's name all along, he was the _freaking god of lightning_) and his allies had returned to Asgard (_holy shit he was a god_) that morning, after the Destroyer had demolished half of the small town. Thor had proclaimed himself an ally of SHIELD at least.

Coulson and Sitwell were, thankfully, alive. They had shown up in town just after the attack, and Mack had nearly dropped on the spot out of relief and exhaustion upon seeing them.

(She didn't know what she would have done if Coulson or Sitwell were dead, because losing a friend was not something Mack believed she could handle.)

Now, in the evening, SHIELD was returning Foster's equipment after confiscating it the day before. Jane and Selvig were directing the other agents where to reset the equipment. Mack was technically supposed to be supervising; Sitwell was back at the base, and Coulson and Barton had returned to New York to report to Fury and the World Security Council. Mack would be reporting as soon as she returned; her plane left that night.

But for now, realizing that they were partially useless in helping reset the equipment, Mack and Darcy had taken the opportunity to sit and chat.

"I was calling it Excalibur," Mack admitted, shrugging. Darcy shot her a surprised look "I was always a King Arthur nut. I like Mew Mew better though. Mew is my nephew's favorite Pokemon."

Darcy grinned. "Your nephew has good taste in Pokemon."

They remained in silence for a bit more. Mack knew she was probably still in shock over the events of the past day, but was amused to note that Darcy seemed to be taking the entire situation in stride. In fact, Darcy seemed to be completely calm

Darcy looked around before asking, "So, this is what you do for a living? You're like Sydney Bristow or something?"

Mack snorted. "Not in those high heels. High heels are strictly for when I'm not on a mission. Tasha can pull that off, but not me." She paused before adding, her tone just as serious as before, "And no wigs. I will never wear a wig."

Darcy smirked. "Smart choice. But you're kinda the same."

"Sydney Bristow never had to deal with freaking gods and giant robots of doom."

"She had to deal with other shit though."

"Not the same."

"You just need the wigs and high heels."

"Ugh." Mack rubbed her temples before adding, "Why did I take this job? I could have said no. But nope. I decided to sign myself up to years of stress and misery. Why did I ever take this job?"

"The right to call yourself a badass agent of SHIELD?" Darcy asked, tilting her head as she watched Mack.

Mack frowned. "That might have been part of it," Mack admitted, realizing that she and Darcy were a bit scarily alike.

They went silent again for a little bit, and Mack let her thoughts drift. Of course, Mack had realized it would go wrong as Coulson uttered that cursed phrase at Stark's house, but she had no idea it would have been this big. SHIELD was going to blow up over this. They had not been prepared for this incident, and had no idea how they possibly could prepare for another incident like this.

It was almost terrifying to think about; SHIELD had just received the definite confirmation that they were not alone in the universe, but those other beings were much stronger and much more powerful than they were. SHIELD would have its work cut out for them, studying the remains of the Destroyer.

(Thor had been polite enough to leave the remains behind at least. SHIELD could appreciate that, and could appreciate having the god as an ally. It was something good out of this situation again.)

It was then that Mack reached into her pocket and realized what she had forgotten for the entire day.

"Hey, Lewis," Mack said.

Darcy turned to look at her, curious. The curiosity turned to surprise and joy when the agent pulled Darcy's beloved iPod out of her pocket and tossed it back to the dark haired political science student.

"Sitwell and I agreed there isn't anything of use on it," Mack explained. Her face was completely serious (because really, her next remark was completely serious in every way, shape, and form), "But I approve of the songs on it. Always great to find someone else who can appreciate Cobra Starship."

The younger girl shot her a grateful smile. "Maybe you aren't so bad," Darcy admitted, cradling her iPod in her hands. The look on her face was more akin to a mother and her child than an owner and her iPod.

Mack managed to crack a smile.

* * *

**June 6, 2010**

"Congratulations, Donahue. You witnessed the first contact with another civilization."

Mack had been waiting in Fury's office for over an hour before the Director himself had made an appearance. Mack just stared at Fury as he entered the room. "I almost wish I was back on leave," she admitted, rubbing her eyes. "I did not sign up for aliens, giant robots, and sand when I joined SHIELD."

Fury's one eye narrowed at her. "Do you want to go back on leave?" he asked. "Because I can make it happen. Or a desk job. Whichever would drive you more crazy."

"I'm good," Mack replied quickly, holding her hands up in surrender. She had no doubt Fury would assign her to a desk job without hesitation, and would probably laugh about it. She shook her head before adding, "I've been in debriefing for literally three days, Director. You know I respect you, but I'd love to get done with this."

"The World Security Council has demanded your resignation."

The need for sleep disappeared instantly. Mack's blood turned to ice water and she swore her heart stopped for a minute. She stared at Fury, and she was dimly aware that her face was pale. She could feel each heartbeat, and God, she was about to be let go. Fury was about to let her go.

"After Australia and New Mexico, they believe that you don't hold the interests of SHIELD at heart, and as such need to be released," Fury explained. He was scowling, which Mack knew was his normal expression whenever he was talking about the World Security Council.

(Granted, it was his default expression in general, but nothing she could do could stop the slight fear she felt at this moment. Two years of her life were about to be put to waste.)

"Director Fury-" Mack started, desperate to try and save her career.

"Let me finish, Donahue." Fury's voice was sharp, and his good eye glared at her until she went silent.

Fury sighed before finally adding, "I told them that they weren't the Director of SHIELD, I was, and you will be staying as long as you please. Sitwell, Coulson, and Barton all defended your actions, and so did I. You're still here, Donahue. Full agent status as of right now, based on Agents Barton and Coulson's assessment of you."

Mack was convinced she had misheard for nearly a full minute before finally replying, her voice a pitch higher than usual, "I'm sorry, what?"

"You actually have might have pulled off a good move," Fury continued, watching her carefully. She squirmed a bit, still in shock, as Fury added, "Thor respects for you after your actions in the bar. That very well might help if he ever shows up again."

(Wait, seriously, Fury had supported her actions? Nick Fury, who had terrified her since she met him? Really?)

"But the Council-"

"Can't tell me what to do with my agents," Fury replied, eyes narrowed. She had heard from Clint and Tasha a few times about Fury's quarrels with the World Security Council, but had no idea that Fury would have been willing to fight against them to keep her in SHIELD. She was almost surprised by the protective spark in Fury's eyes.

(She felt a whole new appreciation for him, not to mention for Sitwell, Coulson, and Barton. They had saved her career. It didn't surprise her too much, since she would go to bat for them if she had to, but the fact that they had made her feel better about everything that had been happening in the past few days.)

"You're fine, Donahue. Full agent status, like I said. You'll be heading to Japan with Romanoff in a few days. Get some rest until then." Mack sat there for a few seconds, still staring at Fury in shock. The older man rolled his eyes before adding, "I'm not bothering to send you into a psych exam, since we both know you're going to just let them hear what they want to hear so you can get back out there."

Mack shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she added, "Yeah, you might be right."

Fury nodded. "That's what I thought. You're dismissed. Go on."

Mack nodded, stood, and turned to leave. She hesitated as she opened the door, and looked back at the Director. She had never had much one on one time with him (though her conversation with him after Australia had been by far the most terrifying experience of her life, probably even more so than what had actually happened in Australia), but she respected him at least, and did have some loyalty to him as her boss.

"Director Fury?" Fury looked up from his desk and raised an eyebrow at Mack as she said, her tone quiet, "Thank you."

Fury's face softened for a moment before he repeated, his voice just as gruff. "You're dismissed, Donahue."

* * *

**June 8, 2010**

"Congratulations."

Mack had been half asleep when someone sat next to her on the plane. She opened her eyes, groaning as she caught sight of flame red hair that she realized what shorter than it used to be. Her eyes snapped open then, and she stared in amazement at the redheaded agent next to her – or rather, the now significant lack of red headed hair.

"You cut your hair?" she exclaimed.

Natasha nodded, holding a hand up to her now shorter red locks. "It was time for a change."

"It looks good," Mack replied quickly, raising her hands in surrender quickly. "But I loved your hair. So much. But this looks fantastic on you."

Natasha rolled her eyes before glancing out the window. "We've been through a lot the last few days, haven't we?" she asked.

"I encountered advanced life forms and a giant robot of doom, and you got nearly killed by a giant green monster." Mack gave a bitter smile. "We're both a bit screwed up right now."

Realizing just then how insane her career had become in the past few days, Mack snorted. "I think Clint's glad we got assigned this mission. He barely can handle me when I'm being emotional, let alone when both of us go through this kind of crap."

Natasha smirked for a second, but grew solemn even as Mack watched her. "He was just sent to Melbourne," Natasha admitted after a moment.

Mack froze instantly. "Why?" she demanded.

"Just a follow up," Natasha assured her. The older woman had known Mack long enough to notice the slight signs of panic on her face. "It's nothing bad. Fury just wanted to make sure everything in Australia was settled, and Clint said he didn't believe Australia would be the best thing for you right now."

"He's right. I don't know what I'll do if I have to go back there again," Mack admitted, glad that her mentor had learned as much about her as she had about him over the years. "Someday, I think I can do it, but right now I'm just trying to get over it."

"You will. You got past Budapest, you'll get past Australia," Natasha assured her. She was watching Mack carefully.

As cold as the Black Widow could be, Mack knew that Natasha cared about her and Clint. Natasha had gone back for her with no hesitation in Brazil. She had saved Mack's life so many times before, and Mack had just saved her more than once.

Mack knew that Natasha cared about her. She appreciated it. But she didn't know if Natasha understood just how much she had been broken by Australia. She didn't know if Clint knew how much Australia had broken her.

(But then again, Mack herself wasn't sure how much Australia had broken her.)

"Budapest was different," Mack replied. Budapest had broken her a bit. She had never been able to forget that man's eyes as he died. Mack knew, logically, he had attacked her. He would have killed her or used her against Clint and Natasha during the fight or God knew what else. "I didn't have a choice in Budapest."

"You made the right choice in Australia." Natasha's voice was firm, but Mack didn't look at her as she stared out of the window. "You chose your side. You chose us."

"But I was still blind for so long. Tasha, I was so stupid." Mack felt tears stabbing at the edges of her eyes, but blinked them back, struggling to keep from falling apart. "You and Clint warned me a hundred times, and I ignored you each and every time."

"He would have killed you," Natasha interrupted. Mack looked at her, face blank, as Natasha continued, "If you had done anything else, he would have killed you. If you had figured out what was going on sooner, he would have killed you. Australia is done, Kenzie. You need to move past it."

Mack nodded. "I want to get past it. But it'll take time."

"No one said it wouldn't," Natasha replied. Mack glanced at her, and saw the look on Natasha's face.

She knew about what Natasha had done before she had joined SHIELD. Some of the other recruits she had met in basic training had whispered about Black Widow, which had clued Mack into the fact that keeping her connection to Natasha quiet was the best thing.

She knew that Clint had chosen to spare her when he had originally been sent to kill her. She knew that they were close, that they loved each other. She was convinced that they knew the other felt the same, but were hesitating for reasons Mack couldn't begin to understand.

"He loves you," Mack blurted out. She stiffened, not aware of what had caused her to blurt that out, but she knew her words didn't need any more explanation. Natasha had gone as still as a stone, her face carefully blank. Mack was the opposite now. A storm of emotions raged on her face, and her chest felt so painful.

There was a pain on the side of her neck as well, and Mack unconsciously traced her scar.

"I know," Natasha replied.

Mack took a ragged breathe, trying to keep calm as she continued, "_He_ threatened you. Down in Australia, when I was… when I was…" Her voice broke as she added, "_He_ threatened to kill me, and then threatened to track you down and kill you."

Mack ran a hand through her hair, her entire body shaking as she added, her voice barely a whisper, "Tasha, I've never seen Clint that angry. I have never seen Clint as angry as he was when we were threatened."

An arm slipped around her shoulder, and Mack buried her hands in her face. "I want to get better," she admitted, trying not to sob. "I don't know how."

"One step at a time," Natasha told her. "That's how you get better. You put Australia behind you. You're a full agent, Mack. You did it. Two years of hard work, and you're a full agent. I'm proud of you. Clint's so proud of you, Coulson is… we all are."

Mack took another deep breath. Then another. For a few minutes, she sat there, breathing, working to calm her racing mind. Tasha's arm remained around her shoulder, and Mack was reminded that yes, regardless of what other people believed, Natasha Romanoff had a heart.

(She would get past Australia, get past all of it, turn into an agent that Clint and Natasha could be proud of. She owed them everything, and she would not fail them now, not when she had finally reached the goal she had been reaching for over the past two years, after Budapest and Brazil and Australia.)

Mack sighed, her breathing slowly returning to normal. "Tasha? Thanks for everything."

"Don't mention it." Natasha gave her a half smile, and ruffled Mack's hair affectionately before replying, "Let's go kick ass."

(And so Mack started to heal. Slowly, but surely, she started to heal.)

* * *

**Author's Note:** Emotional chapter today, but this is Mack's road to recovery. Chapter 8 is going to be a bit of a time skip – from June 2010 to February 2011. Just wanted to warn you so you weren't too startled.

As a note, I don't read some of the comics set in the Cinematic Universe, but I understand the gist of one is that Natasha witnessed one of the Hulk's battles after the incident at the Stark Expo. I just have it in here that she nearly got killed in the Battle of Harlem, just to give an excuse for the girls to get together.

This chapter was important though, because Mack is in no way, shape, or form anywhere close to being over what happened in Australia, which you got some more hints about here. Actually, you got some MAJOR hints about what went down in Australia.

You will find out the full story, I promise, it'll just take a little bit. Until then, I will continue to dangle hints out in front of you.

Next chapter should be up sometime tomorrow or Saturday – I'm seeing a play on Friday night, so updates might not come because of it. Thanks again, hope to hear from you all!

**Chapter 8** – _In the Ice_  
"The doctor was giving some long winded explanation on how this was possible, but I lost on the fact that we found a national war hero frozen in ice and he's somehow alive after sixty six years."


	8. In the Ice

**Author's Note:** Hey look. We're at Steve's introduction. FINALLY OMG WE MADE IT YOU GUYS STUCK WITH MY CRAP THIS LONG. We're nowhere near the end though; this is only the beginning, because Steve and Mack are so damaged it's going to take a while for them to get ANYWHERE with a relationship, let alone develop feelings for each other.

But Mack's a flirt and Steve's a gentleman, so we have that until we get to the actual romantic stuff.

GAH WE MADE IT.

I promise that a certain character in here serves a big purpose, so please don't hate him too much. _Agents of SHIELD_ fans will recognize him, and yes, he'll return a few times. ;) But don't worry, we'll get Steve/Mack eventually.

Thanks to everyone for sticking with me this long, because guys, we made it to Steve! He's here! We actually made it. I don't own Avengers, as always, hope to hear what you think of this! We're going to get the actual first meeting next chapter!

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 8** – _In the Ice_

* * *

**February 14, 2011**

"A Valentine's Day with wine, deli sandwiches, and board games." Mack giggled as she and her date for the night walked under the streetlamps of New York City. "I'm so spoiled."

"You're still going on about this?" her date asked, staring at her in surprise.

Mack shot him a dead serious look. "Duh. My friends should all be jealous right now. This is the best Valentine's Day ever."

"Kenzie…"

"I'm not even being sarcastic, this is actually amazing. Seriously, you have destroyed the competition and raised my hopes for any future boyfriend."

"Please stop."

"You are such a romantic at heart." Mack laughed as he scowled. She added, walking backwards to watch him, "Scowling doesn't help, because you also have the most adorable scowl in the world."

"Kenzie, I swear-" he threatened.

"Relax, Grant." Turning back around, Mack hooked her arm through his; she grinned up at him before adding, "Let's just have fun tonight, because Fury is likely to send me on a mission any second now."

"If you'd focus, that would be easier." There was amusement in his eyes though, and Mack smiled as she slipped the bag of deli sandwiches they had just picked up back into his hands. "Let's just get the wine and get back to your place."

The months since New Mexico and Australia had been difficult at first. Slowly but surely however, Mack had been recovering. She knew that saying she was completely fine again was an absolute lie (she was pretty sure she was never going to be completely okay, not when she was an agent of SHIELD), but Mack was so much better than she had been months ago. Barton and Romanoff had been there for her a lot in those months, but she was slowing better. She was happier too, if that was possible.

Japan had been almost a _fun_ mission, if a mission could be called fun. It had been easy at the least, and a chance for Mack to prove that she could handle full agent status. (Plus, she and Tasha had managed to grab some fantastic shoes on that mission. Mack adored those navy blue leather boots). She had been given a solo section on part of the mission and had completed with ease, reminding Mack that yes, she was a full agent, and yes, could handle herself.

Not long after Japan, in late June, Mack had been assigned to a long-term op in Spain with Agent Grant Ward, an antisocial specialist that she had met a few times before in New York. Coulson had a high opinion of him though, and that was good enough for her.

In the beginning, Spain had been a rough assignment. Ward and Mack's personalities had clashed horribly in the beginning; Grant was a hardass and one of the most serious people she had ever met. Mack herself was irreverent and a spitfire, and their tactics and styles clashed almost as much as their personalities did.

Eventually, they had learned to compensate for each other's weaknesses. Mack could deal with people, Ward noticed things that she didn't. They had turned into a good team by the end of July, which had caused SHIELD to expand that assignment for a few more months. Both had accepted the change with grace; they had learned to work together by then, and had even become friends in a sort of way.

They had begun sleeping together in late August.

It wasn't a love relationship, not the love that Mack knew existed between Natasha and Clint (though both would deny it with their dying breath, even though anyone with eyes could see it). Grant Ward was a valuable friend, one she had counted on so many times in a few months. They had saved each other countless times in Spain, and that bond was hard to break. It was a friends with benefits relationship – sex and having a temporary partner who would shoot anyone going after her was only a plus.

If she had to give credit to someone for picking her up after New Mexico and Australia, Mack would give that credit to Ward without hesitation. Clint and Natasha and Coulson had been there for her, but Mack had tried to go it on her own for a bit.

He was a wonderful guy. A bit too serious and stoic at times, but by now she could read him like an open book. She could make him laugh without trying, and he reined her in when she let herself go too much. In every sense of the word, Ward had been perfect for her after everything that had happened last year.

(She knew it wasn't love, but she didn't need love right now. She needed someone to be there for her, and Grant Ward was there for her when she needed him. That was good enough for her, and friendship was better than love sometimes.)

Ward looked at her. "You're sure you don't mind me staying over tonight?" he asked again.

Mack rolled her eyes. "Keep it up and I'll make you sleep on the balcony." She lightly hit his arm before adding, "I've said I don't mind a thousand times. I told you after Spain you can use my apartment when you need it."

"Your dog hates me though," Ward pointed out.

"Arizona hates everybody. Except Natasha. We don't know why Arizona doesn't hate Natasha. It's one of those mysteries that we'll die wondering about."

Ward sighed. "I'm leaving early tomorrow morning."

"For all we know, I'm leaving tonight. Fury said to be ready at any minutes." Mack swatted him on the arm before adding, "We're enjoying each other's company for now. Understood, Grant?"

"Got it," Ward replied, shaking his head.

Mack smirked before adding, "God, Grant, you sound like you're being forced to go on a date with Fury. I don't think he'd play board games with you."

"Shut up, Kenzie."

(He was an idiot at times, but he was her idiot, and there was nothing she wouldn't do for him if it meant helping or protecting him.)

* * *

"So, the score is… twelve games me, nine games you." Mack cackled. "You're slipping."

"You're cheating," Ward accused, taking a sip at his beer before shooting her a glare.

Mack laughed. "Really? At Connect Four? You said I was cheating at Battleship, too. And I wasn't."

"You're cheating. I never lose this game."

Mack giggled as she ran a hand down Arizona's back. The dog wagged its tail, and didn't seem too upset that there were two humans invading on his apartment. "You are being insanely competitive over a game I stole from my nephews," Mack pointed out, throwing a piece of popcorn at Ward. "All of whom, by the way, are under seven."

He caught the popcorn without looking and tossed it into his mouth. "I like board games," he shrugged, though he shot her a quick smile.

"You're a piece of work, Grant Ward," Mack sighed, taking a sip of the red wine sitting in her best glasses on the table. Grant himself had chosen beer for the night, which Mack kept for Clint whenever he showed up at the apartment.

Mack frowned as her phone rang, and groaned when she looked at the caller ID. "It's Fury," she said, shooting a significant glance at him as he sat up, raising an eyebrow. "Director," Mack greeted, forcing a pleasant tone in her voice.

"Donahue, we have something for you. Get to the plane field by midnight. Something was just found in the Arctic, and we want an agent there."

Mack glanced over at the clock; it was barely eight in the evening right now. She had more than enough time to pack, eat, and shower, though she was a bit disappointed that her dorky date night had been ruined. "There's nothing else you can tell me?"

"You'll find out when you're on your way. Don't be late," Fury's voice warned.

"Understood, Director. I'll be there." She hung up a moment later, and shot an apologetic smile to Ward. "Duty calls, my dear."

Ward nodded, and Mack was reminded why she was friends with him; he understood having to leave everything behind at the drop of a hat. He had done it to her a few times too. "I can find a hotel-"

Mack shot him a quick glare as she interrupted, "Grant, you're staying here. I already said you could, as long as you take Arizona out before you leave tomorrow, you're fine." She stood, kissing her dog on the top of his head before adding, "I'll call Miss Argent now and she'll take him out tomorrow afternoon and until I get back."

"You're leaving-" Ward interrupted, clearly trying to win an argument he knew he had no chance to.

"And you're staying here," Mack replied, shooting him another half glare before walking over to her bedroom. Arizona remained on the couch, whining as he tried to find a comfortable spot.

Ward followed her, and she continued to talk as she pulled her out her knives and two of her guns. "Look, it's not that big a deal. Coulson's used the apartment before. Tasha spent two weeks here when I was in Greece in December. He denies it, but I'm sure Clint used it as a home base when I was in Spain with you."

"You're sure?" Ward asked again.

"Absolutely. You leave tomorrow morning, it's stupid to get a hotel room for less than twelve hours." Mack shot him a smile before adding, "What are friends for?"

Ward sighed. "I appreciate it."

"Don't worry about it." Mack sighed before adding, "He's sending me to the freaking Arctic though."

Ward snorted. "You always get sent to the places you hate the most, don't you?" he asked, standing in the doorway as he watched her pack.

"I haven't been back to Australia yet," Mack pointed out. Nearly a year later, she could finally say and refer to Australia without flinching and going into slight panic attacks. She didn't like to talk about what happened, and in fact didn't, but she had told Grant about it early on, in Spain.

(Spain had been an emotional mission, and Mack could be a talkative drunk, which pretty much described their first time – both had gotten drunk, emotional, spilled some dark secrets, and had ended up sleeping together. Real romantic, but it was at the same time the closest to a romantic relationship that Mack had gotten since _him_.)

"Someday, maybe," Ward pointed out. "You never know where SHIELD might send you next."

"Hopefully somewhere nice and sunny and not an extreme in terms of weather." Mack smirked, and added, "I'd love to go to London. I actually like rain."

Ward only rolled his eyes. "I'll drive you to the airport."

Mack smiled at him before replying, "It's eight now. I have to be there by midnight. We play until nine, go out to eat, then you take me to the airport. Sound good, Ward?"

"You are so going down," Ward shot back, hurrying into the living room.

She laughed and followed him.

(The final score was Ward thirty-two games, Mack twenty-five. She may or may not have let him win.)

* * *

**February 15, 2011**

Mack had entered her personal circle of hell.

She had never been a girl for extremes in terms of weather. She hated the intense heat (not to mention sand) of the desert (she would be incredibly happy if she never had to set foot in New Mexico again), but the frigid cold of the Arctic was almost as bad.

Of course she had ended up in the Arctic. Fury had it out for her again or something.

"Is it always this bad out here?" Mack asked as the driver slowly made their way through the blizzard. She could barely see anything in front of her, and wondered how exactly they were going to find wherever they were going.

Mack didn't even know what she was supposed to do when they found whatever it was. Fury sent her in to investigate, but knowing what she had to investigate might have helped, even a little bit. She had no idea what she was expecting.

The driver laughed. "This is pretty mild," he admitted. He pointed up ahead, and Mack caught a glimpse of an orange light. "We're here. I'd get your hood up."

"I'm going to freeze no matter what." Despite her comment, Mack immediately pulled up her hood, shivering instantly as she opened the door after the truck had topped. She got out quickly, hugging her arms to herself as she nodded towards the man walking to her.

"Thanks for coming," the man shouted.

"Agent Mackenzie Donahue," Mack shouted over the winds. She hated this assignment so much already. Not being heard because of wind just added to the list of problems she was having right now. "I'm from SHIELD."

The man sent her a surprised look. "Thought they were sending someone from Washington," he shouted back, though he didn't seem too upset about it.

Mack gave a noncommittal shrug. "Plans change." She gestured forward. "What's going on?"

"We found something in the ice. Thought Washington might want a look at it."

"How long you've been here?" Mack asked, trying to look around. Snow and ice obscured pretty much everything, and Mack realized that it was a miracle that they had found… well, whatever they had found.

"Since this morning," the man shouted back. "A Russian oil team called it in about 18 hours ago."

"How hasn't it been found before now?" Mack asked, wondering what exactly it might have been.

(Who in their right mind would have brought anything to the Arctic? Honestly.)

"It's really not that surprising," the man admitted. He gestured around, though Mack was pretty much only aware of more snow and ice. "The landscape is changing all the time."

"You have no idea what this thing might be? A weather balloon maybe?" Mack suggested, combing her mind for other possibilities. The chance of another piece of alien technology (she could not deal with another New Mexico) came to mind, and she fervently hoped it wasn't another piece of alien technology. SHIELD was dealing with enough of that.

"I don't think so." He looked back at her before adding, "You know, we don't have the equipment for a job like this."

"When can we start craning it out?" Mack asked, hoping that his answer would be soon. The quicker they got

The man gave a laugh that Mack barely heard through the wind. "You don't understand. You'll need one hell of a crane."

It was then Mack saw, through the ice and snow, what SHIELD had been called in to take a look at. A plane – a huge, frozen, and covered in snow plane that might have been here for years. That had been among the last things that Mack was expecting. Mack raised an eyebrow, though shock had overridden any other reaction and she logically realized no one was going to see the raised eyebrow in this snow.

"Yeah, you can see why we called you," the man explained.

"Good call. Has anyone gone in yet?" Mack asked, looking at him.

"Not yet."

Mack bit her lip. "Send me in. I can handle it, and I've handled worse situations, believe me. Just in case there's something in there."

* * *

About a half an hour later, Mack steadied herself as she was lowered to the ground inside the plane. She looked around, startled by the fact that it was even colder in here than outside. Snow covered everything, but Mack could at least hear herself think in here when compared to what it was like outside.

"Base, we're in." Mack looked around, noticing that it was eerily silent when compared to the constant windy sounds from outside. She walked forward, adding, "Obviously a plane, but I'm guessing a military craft of some sort. It's huge."

The man behind her shot out a curse as he slipped on some ice. "Son of a bitch," he muttered, trying to regain his footing.

Mack shot a look back at her, giving him a calm smile. "Careful. I'm not carrying you out of here." Mack looked around again, and then glanced toward what she assumed was the front of the plane. She walked forward, aware of each footstep on the ground.

Mack frowned as she noticed a color in the ice, one that she was pretty sure didn't come naturally. "What the hell," she muttered. Her companion glanced over at her and joined her, both leaning in front of the ice.

"What is it?" he asked.

Mack stopped in place, staring down at the ice, unable to believe what she was seeing. "Oh my God," she whispered, shivering slightly as she cleaned off some of the snow on the ice, trying to get a closer look. Snow soaked through her gloves from the actions, but she didn't notice, not when she began to notice other signs in the ice.

She realized then her suspicions were right, especially when she noticed the red, white, and blue shield, with a single star in the middle of it. Not far from it, she realized, was the shield's _owner_.

"Oh my God." Mack stood, biting her lip before calling into her radio. "I need a line to SHIELD headquarters. Now." Mack paused before adding, "Actually, I need Fury. I need a line to Fury now."

"It's three in the morning there."

Mack glanced back down, shaking her head in disbelief. "I don't care. Get Fury on the line." Sympathy coated her eyes as she looked around again before returning her gaze to what she saw in the ice. "He's waited long enough."

* * *

About twelve hours later, Doctor Emil Moreau walked into the room, his face stunned. He stared at Mack, and said, his voice almost completely calm, "He's still alive."

Mack knew instantly that this assignment had just turned into one of _those_ missions.

* * *

**February 16, 2011**

"You found _what_?"

A few more hours later (long enough for it to be the next day at least, but Mack's sense of time had been a bit screwed up for numerous reasons, jet lag and the fact that they found a _human being frozen solid_), Mack sat in the (thankfully heated) base about a dozen miles from the original wreckage site. The headache had turned into a splitting migraine.

"Captain America," Mack repeated, for about the fifth time in the conversation. "We found Captain America, Director Fury." She paused. "Oh, and he's still alive. I did mention that part, didn't I?"

"Donahue, that's not possible."

"Then go yell at Moreau," Mack replied, shaking her head and running a hand through her hair. "He's still alive. They're trying to figure out a way to wake him up. The doctor was giving some long winded explanation on how this was possible, but I lost on the fact that we found a national war hero frozen in ice and he's somehow alive after sixty six years."

"He's been on ice for decades." Mack reveled in that fact that Fury actually sounded surprised for the first time she had known him.

"Sixty-six years total, but yeah. He's been down there awhile." Mack knew she was being slightly callous, but she had no idea how she was supposed to act in this situation.

_They had just found Captain America_. Captain America, who she had learned about in high school history classes. Hell, she had given a report on him in her senior year for a wartime propaganda project in history class. Her history teacher would be cackling if he knew about this.

She had no idea that _this_ was going to be in the Arctic. Grant (her insanely serious sort of boyfriend who never smiled unless she was actively trying to get him to smile) was going to die laughing when he heard that they had found Captain freaking America.

"Orders, Director?" Mack asked, running a hand through her hair.

Fury was silent for a few minutes, and Mack could practically hear the gears turning in his head. She had no idea what he was thinking about, but she waited patiently, hoping that he wasn't going to drag her into some insane plan of his.

"Congratulations, Donahue, you have homework."

Mack's jaw dropped. "Wait, what?" she demanded, wondering what exactly she had missed in a few sentences of a conversation. Fury wasn't about to do what she _thought_ he was about to. He couldn't. There was no reason for him to.

"You're officially in charge of him."

(Crap, he had done what she thought he was going to. She was being put in charge of Captain America. Great. Just wonderful. Her entire career had been reduced to a babysitting job. Fury so had it out for her yet again.)

"He's missed sixty six years, Donahue. You're going to help him get back on his feet and into the modern world, if and when he does wake up."

"He might not survive the shock," Mack pointed out. She shook her head. "He was frozen in ice, Director. Moreau doesn't know if he'll survive the unfreezing."

"SHIELD assumes that we will have a world to protect tomorrow. You are to assume that he will awaken without any harmful side effects."

"I'm not a babysitter, Director!" Mack replied desperately. She shook her head, knowing that Fury was probably going to assign her to it anyway. Fury did what he wanted.

"I _am_ your boss though." The worst part was that Fury actually had a point with that remark; that fact made Mack scowl. "Read through his files. I'm sending you his known associates as of the time of his disappearance. Get to the research, Donahue. He's going to be your problem soon."

Fury hung up before Mack could reply. She was once again hit with that in over her head feeling she hated so much.

* * *

**February 17, 2011**

She contacted the Howling Commandos first.

Fury had sent her all the records they had of Steve Rogers' associates at the time of his disappearance. Lord James Falsworth was dead, though the daughter she had talked to had agreed to send Mack anything that Falsworth had kept about Captain Rogers.

Jim Morita was also dead, though his son happened to still work for SHIELD, in the science department; she had actually met him a few times. Their chat had been pleasant enough, though Jim had apparently rarely spoken of his time in World War II.

Bucky Barnes had no surviving family she could contact, though she realized early on he must have been important enough to Rogers to risk his life for (she could understand that at least). General Chester Phillips had died back in the 70s, and Howard Stark was long since dead, but Mack had no desire to contact Tony Stark about anything.

(Mack noticed that sometime in all her research, which she read through on the plane ride to Greenway, where he would be unfrozen in a SHIELD lab before being taken to New York, that _Captain America_ quickly became _Captain Steven Rogers_ in her mind. Captain America was a symbol of hope, but Steve Rogers was a man who lost sixty-six years – and that was the man that Mack would be helping.)

Fury had agreed with that the surviving Commandos had a right to know of Rogers' survival; a number of them had worked to set up SHIELD, way in the absolute beginning, and Mack almost was excited to talk to some of them. She was surprised a bit that Fury had agreed with her opinion, but realized why he had agreed after talking to the survivors.

Jacques Dernier and Gabe Jones had been a limitless help in her conversations with them, and Mack had promised to pass on their contact information to Steve Rogers upon his awakening. She could hear the joy and relief in their voices when she had told them, and she had made sure their numbers were somewhere she could easily access. She was surprised to find that Gabe Jones remembered her; she had been a French student of his at Culver in her senior year.

Dum Dum Dugan had hung up on her the moment she had told him that they had found Captain Rogers in the ice. He had called ten minutes later, apologizing to her for it, and going on further to explain that he had called Fury (and apparently yelled at him) to check if Mack had been pulling his leg. He had also extracted a promise from Mack to make sure Steve would receive his contact information and that she would call him if needed.

There was one other call to make now, and Mack realized now that it _couldn't_ be just a phone call. Rogers' best friend, Bucky Barnes, had died on a mission not long before Rogers' disappearance. That meant there was one other person who had known him more than anyone, and Mack realized that person needed to be talked to face to face.

(Her assignment was to help Steve Rogers in his adjustment in the modern world, but Mack knew better than anyone that forgetting the past was impossible. She knew how it felt never to receive closure, and that made her more sure than anything else that she was making the right choice.)

Mack sighed as the phone rang, taking a deep breath as the voice of an older woman answered it.

"Hi, this is Agent Mackenzie Donahue. I'm with SHIELD." She pauses before saying, "Ma'am, we found him. We've found Captain Rogers. Is it possible for us to meet, Miss Carter?"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Did I just do what you think I did at the last sentence? I think I did. Hehehehe. Please review, lovelies. I have nothing to do tomorrow, so an update should be up sometime tomorrow. Thanks as always, hope you enjoyed it!

So, to clear up any possible confusion, yes: this is Grant Ward from _Agents of SHIELD_. I played with the idea in a few different ways, but them having a brief, more for fun relationship worked well with what I wanted to do with Mack's character. It was going to be another original character, but I decided to use Ward instead.

Because if Steve wasn't showing up, I could totally write Mack and Ward getting together permanently. I just enjoy Ward and Mack's relationship here, so he will show up again at some point. I might also end up writing a Mack visit into _Agents of SHIELD_, depending on what happens throughout _Bohemia_. ;)

Steve is actually conscious next chapter, so hopefully that's an incentive for reviewing. ;) Thanks as always, loves!

**Chapter 9** – _Those Left Behind  
_Her first thought was that yes, Captain Steve Rogers was undeniably gorgeous. The second was that if he was going to call her _ma'am_ the entire time, she might kill him.


	9. Those Left Behind

**Author's Note:** LOOK. WE MADE IT. STEVE IS BEING INTRODUCED GUYS. STEVE IS CONSCIOUS AND HE AND MACK MEET AFTER NINE CHAPTERS OF WAITING.

Oh, and the first time he sees her, she's pissed off. Wonderful start to a relationship. The relationship with romance won't come for a while; there's going to be trust and then friendship and then romance further down the line, but we'll get to the fun stuff soon.

Sorry this update didn't get up sooner. I was pretty sick all weekend, and am only feeling better just about now. But hey, it's up, and STEVE AND MACK MET.

Also, Peggy plays a huge role in this, so this will not be the first time you see her. It focuses on Steve/Mack, but there are a lot of other characters in this world that mean something to them, and as such, they'll appear. Doctors Fennman and Moreau here are also fairly important for the story. It'll be fun. :D

I don't own _Avengers_, hope everyone is enjoying, can't wait to hear what you think of the chapter! Next chapter will be fun, with a Steve and Mack one on one conversation. Thanks for the support as always, I love you all so much.

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 9** – _Those Left Behind_

* * *

**February 18, 2011**

The cottage was about a dozen miles outside of London, and was undeniably picturesque. Mack had been told to let herself in when she arrived, and that she would most likely be in the garden upon her arrival.

Mack entered the cottage quietly, shutting the door behind her. She immediately noticed a picture on the wall, of a smaller, scrawny young man with blond hair, dressed in an army's uniform. Mack recognized the photo from the files she had been reading obsessively for the past few days and from the fact she had seen the man unfrozen and unconscious a few hours earlier.

Mack walked through the cottage, heading towards what she assumed was the garden in the backyard. She hesitated when reached the entrance of the garden, noticing an older woman sitting at a small table, looking out at the flowers with a sad look on her face.

"Miss Carter?"

Peggy Carter had aged gracefully. Her hair was silver and long, and she was still gorgeous. She smiled warmly as Mack walked into the garden, gesturing at the chair next to her.

"It's a pleasure, Miss Carter," Mack said, holding out a hand to her. She was almost awestruck. This was one of the founders of SHIELD in front of her. Natasha had told her stories about Peggy Carter for the years of training she had gone through. She was one of her major idols.

"Peggy, please," the older woman replied, taking the hand and smiling at her. "Please, sit. You have no idea how much I appreciate you coming out here." She hesitated as Mack sat across from her. "Is he well?" Peggy asked at last, a sad look on her face.

"He hasn't woken up yet," Mack said. She looked at the flowers in the garden, biting her lip before adding, "But according to Doctor Moreau, he's in perfect healthy physically. The serum protected him from the ice."

Peggy chuckled. "Dr. Erkstine did his job well then." The name seemed to remind her of something as she glanced back at Mack. "I've sent you everything I have on Project Rebirth and the serum. I've also sent you Steve's files."

"Is there anything else?" Mack asked. She held up her hands. "I don't mean official records, ma'am. I want to help him the best I can."

Peggy gave a distant smile, and Mack remembered what the others files had said. Steve Rogers had loved Peggy Carter. And she had lost the man she had loved just as they had won the war. Steve Rogers hadn't just sacrificed his life to save a city; he had sacrificed his chance with Peggy.

"He loves to draw. He's a gentleman. He is the sweetest man I ever met in my life. He never knew a bloody thing about women. He wanted to take me out dancing."

For hours, they talked. Not about Captain America, the man who had saved a country in war, but of Steve Rogers, a man who had just been returned to the world he had saved. Mack began to see the bigger picture that she hadn't before; she was going to be trying to help pull a broken man to his feet.

(Mack knew a thing or two about being broken.)

Mack found that she liked Peggy more and more in those few hours. She hadn't held back, and had told Mack everything. Listening Captain Rogers go down on Hydra's ship, crashing into the Arctic to prevent in from destroying New York. Mack guessed that she wanted Steve to have someone he could talk to in this time, but Peggy also seemed to accept that it might be incredibly hard for him to see her now.

"He was a hero," Mack murmured a few hours later. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the tears she had felt there.

"Captain America was a hero." Peggy looked at her, with such heartbreaking fondness in her eyes that Mack felt the tears reach her eyes even quicker than before. "Steve Rogers was one of a kind. And his heart will break over this. He's going to need someone there."

"I'll try as much as I can," Mack promised. "I'm not going to pretend I understand what he's gone through, but I'll be there when he needs me."

"It'll take a while, but once he trusts you…" Peggy gave a soft smile. "Once he trusts you, you have a friend for the rest of your life, Mackenzie."

"I could do with a few more of those," Mack murmured, giving a soft smile.

Peggy paused before taking Mack's hand, squeezing it before adding, "I appreciate you coming here. And I appreciate being told that he's alive. Wondering what happened to him has taken away a lot of sleep over the years."

Mack nodded solemnly as she stood. "I'll look after him. Thank you so much for meeting with me." She had almost walked away when it hit her.

"SHIELD." Peggy looked back at the door, to where Mack had paused in the doorway. Mack looked back at Peggy, realization on her face as she said, "It wasn't an accident, was it? The fact that you named this organization SHIELD. It's after Captain Rogers, isn't it?"

Peggy laughed, as if Mack had stumbled into an old joke from years ago; which she very well might have. "My dear, you have no idea how long it took to figure out how to make it spell SHIELD." She paused for a few more seconds before adding, "Mackenzie, please take care of him."

Mack gave a solemn nod. "I will, Miss Carter. I promise." She paused before adding, "Do you want me to tell him anything?"

Peggy didn't answer for a moment. "I'll tell him myself one day," she replied. "I'll tell him myself."

* * *

**February 19, 2011**

As she tried to navigate the streets of New York City the next day, Mack was somewhat unsurprised to find out that Steve Rogers had woken up, figured out that something was up, and had escaped.

All because of a stupid baseball game.

"How did nobody check if he was at that game? I thought we were better than that!" Mack waved her hands in frustration before snapping, "Why didn't we use a game from after he crashed? Why didn't you think of that?"

"You were in London!" Doctor Emil Moreau's voice broke through her ear piece. "You're in charge of this!"

Doctor Emil Moreau was one of her favorite people in SHIELD. An Empire State graduate and one of SHIELD's top doctors, he was incredibly sweet and was the most hilarious drunk she had ever met. There was no denying that he was also absolutely insane, but Mack had her own quirks; a majority of SHIELD's employees did.

"I was in London making sure that we would be able to adjust to what he needs now! Do not blame me for this, Moreau!" Mack snapped as she drove as quickly as possible to SHIELD.

"I don't know! He broke through! He terrified Cecelia though."

Mack bit back several curses before demanding, "Why did Cecelia go through this!? She's in _linguistics_! She had a panic attack when she came into the room when I got shot in the arm, and that was only a bit of blood!"

"She looks like Peggy Carter!" Emil explained. "And she's fine! She's not hurt!"

"And you thought that was justification enough to send a member of _linguistics_ into that room!" Peggy Carter would so be killing her if she knew what was going on at the moment. Mack counted down from ten in her head before replying, "I swear to God, Moreau, why did Fury put you in charge while I was gone?"

"It was me or Dr. Fennman, and you and I hate Fennman with the passion of a couple thousand suns!"

Mack paused. "Good point. I'm still gonna kick your ass though."

Fennman was one of the few people in SHIELD that Mack had never learned to get along with. He looked down at her for a number of reasons she couldn't comprehend. Clint had told her to always trust her gut, and something inside of her could not trust Dr. Fennman with anything. As such, she had avoided him whenever possible.

(Of course, now that she and Dr. Fennman and Dr. Moreau would be taking care of Steve Rogers, they had to work together. Mack gave it two weeks before Moreau and Fennman killed each other. Or two hours; it all depended on how long they had to spend with each other.)

"Do it later. Rogers is in the streets."

Silence.

"_Fuck_." Mack threw her phone into the passenger's seat before turning sharply onto another street. "Call Director Fury," she ordered aloud to her phone.

It only took a few seconds for Fury's voice to come through the speakers on her phone. "We've got him, Donahue. Go back to headquarters; we're bringing him in for Doctor Moreau to have him checked on."

"I get a chance to kick Moreau's ass earlier?" Mack asked, frustration overriding her normal attitude with Fury. "Fantastic. See you there, Director."

* * *

"You're not qualified for this job, Agent Donahue!"

"You don't get to make that decision." Mack's nostrils flared, her eyes wild as she stood in the office of Dr. Emil Moreau. Moreau himself was not yelling at her; the doctor instead sat in his swirly chair, eating out of a bag of popcorn with a manic gleam in his eyes as he watched the scene in front of him.

For now, Mack was forced to deal with Dr. John Fennman, Steve Rogers' recently assigned psychiatrist.

(That is if she didn't kill Fennman in this argument, which was an absolute possibility at this point.)

Unnoticed by either Fennman or Mack, the door to the room opened. Moreau glanced at it, smirking when he saw who had just entered the room.

"Frankly, Agent Donahue, I don't believe you have the ability to judge this situation properly. SHIELD saw your inability to look past familiarity in Australia." Fennman's eyes flashed, and Moreau dropped the handful of popcorn he had in his hands, turning his attention back to Mack.

Mack's eyes flashed again, and her one hand went to her waist, clenching into a fist as she kept herself from grabbing a knife. Her entire body tensed and red bled through her vision. "How dare you-" she spat, stepping forward.

"Is there a problem here?"

Fennman and Mack both whirled to the doorway, Mack's hands on her hips and her eyes wild. Captain Rogers and Director Fury stood there, and Mack looked away to shoot another dark glare at Fennman. Captain Rogers looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Fury looked as annoyed as he always did.

"Director Fury, this _agent_ is not suited for this assignment-" Fennman began, spitting out the words as he glared at Mack.

Mack stood her ground, hands in fists, eyes dark and narrowed. Mack noticed there was anger in Captain Rogers' eyes, mostly directed at Fennman. He shot her a quick look, almost out of concern, but glanced away a second later before Mack had a chance to read him further. There was a shot of butterflies in her stomach for a second, but she pushed that away.

"I wasn't talking to you, Doctor Fennman." Fury turned back to Mack, his eyebrow raised as he repeated, "Is there a problem, Agent Donahue?" Fury asked, glaring back at Fennman.

"Fine," Mack replied through gritted teeth, shooting one last death glare at Fennman before returning her attention to Captain Rogers and Fury. "Everything is absolutely fine."

Fury didn't believe her, but thankfully dropped the issue. She didn't get along with Fennman, but she could work with him if she needed to. It wasn't about either of them anyway; it was about Captain Rogers and helping his adjustment to 2011 in any way possible. Doctor Fennman didn't seem to realize that yet.

Fennman muttered something before storming out, shouldering Captain Rogers as he passed. Rogers looked past him, frowning as he left, and then turned back to the others as Fury gestured towards Mack, who was working to get the scowl off of her face as she turned to look at Captain Steve Rogers for the first time.

(Well, the first time he was conscious at least.)

"Captain Rogers, this is Agent Mackenzie Donahue. She'll be your liaison for SHIELD. If you need anything, you go straight to her, and she goes straight to me."

Rogers had glanced at her with Fury's introduction, and Mack stayed calm as he studied her. She took a deep breath as Rogers stepped forward. "A pleasure, ma'am," Captain Rogers said, holding out a hand to her.

Her first thought was that yes, Captain Steve Rogers was undeniably gorgeous. The second was that if he was going to call her _ma'am_ the entire time, she might kill him.

"Please, just call me Mack or Mackenzie," she replied, taking his hand and giving it a firm squeeze. She managed a warm smile, and then added, "Anything you need, just ask me, okay?"

"Avoid Fennman like the plague!" Moreau piped up, sitting in his desk chair. He had proceeded to begin swirling in it, giggling something like a madman. Rogers stared at him, and Mack snickered. Moreau had the attention span of a four year old, and about the same maturity level.

"Doctor Moreau," Fury warned, shooting him a glare.

Moreau gave a sharp laugh before correcting, "Avoid him like he's trying to talk you into jumping off a cliff."

"That's you. You've been pressuring me to go sky diving since I got here," Mack pointed out, shooting him a confused look. She glanced back at Captain Rogers before adding, "Just ignore Crazy over there and he'll go away eventually."

"Love you too, Donahue."

"Moreau!" Fury warned again. He rolled his good eye before turning back to Captain Rogers. "The idiot is Doctor Emil Moreau. He'll be your physician."

"God help you," Mack added, nodding solemnly as Emil shot her a quick glare. "His assistant Tori is saner."

Mack glanced at Captain Rogers, and saw that there was a spark of amusement in his eyes, buried beneath a look that took her back months ago, to when she had seen Thor for the first time. She remembered how lost Thor had looked, and she saw that same look on Captain Rogers' face now.

(He had lost sixty-six years. She didn't know how he was handling this, but she knew she wouldn't handle it well at all. That would mean losing her family, Clint and Natasha, Grant, and everyone she had ever known. The world had gone on without him, and he had been left behind until now.)

Fury looked as though he would like nothing more than to strangle both her and Moreau. "We're currently setting up an apartment for you a few blocks away," Fury explained, trying to change the subject, turning back to Captain Rogers. "We had temporary quarters, but you broke them."

"Sorry about that," Rogers replied, shifting slightly in place.

An idea formed in her head in an instant, and Mack sighed. "I have a spare bedroom," she pointed out. Captain Rogers and Fury turned back to her, and Mack added, "As long as he doesn't care about my antisocial dog. And it's only for a few days, right?"

"Ma'am-" Rogers said, turning back to look at her.

"Mack or Mackenzie, Captain Rogers," Mack interrupted, raising an eyebrow and silently daring him to call her _ma'am _again. He went silent immediately. "And it's not a big deal. I have room, you need somewhere for a few days."

"You're sure, Donahue?" Fury asked.

"Yeah." Mack looked back at Steve before adding, "The beds in this place suck, believe me, I know." Moreau chuckled and coughed something that suspiciously sounded like _crush_. Mack glared furiously at him before turning her attention back to Captain Rogers.

"I'd appreciate it, ma- Mackenzie," Rogers corrected himself as Mack raised an eyebrow; waiting for the dreaded ma'am she knew was coming. She shot him a quick smile as it didn't arrive.

"Not a problem, Captain Rogers."

"Please… just Steve." He was still watching her, and Mack again was struck with how lost he looked.

Mack nodded. "Got it, Steve." She turned to Fury. "Please reassign Fennman," she begged, waving her hands as she added, "He and I can't work together, and you know I've prepared for this."

"He's the best in the psychology department," Fury pointed out.

"If he's going to bring up every mistake I've made on missions, I might kill him," Mack warned, feeling the same fury rising in her again. She bit her lip before looking away, well aware of the confused look on Steve's face.

"I'll deal with Dr. Fennman," Fury replied, shooting her a warning look. "Doctor Moreau, I need you do to a quick check on Captain Rogers here. You two can head out then, Donahue. I'll let you know when the apartment is ready." He nodded once at Captain Rogers before saying, "Captain."

Fury walked out, leaving the three left in the room. For a few minutes, it was just an awkward silence. Rogers and Mack were studying each other, curious at the very least. Moreau whirled in his chair a few more times before giving an overdramatic shy, drawing the attention of both the superhero and the SHIELD agent.

"I wanted you to stab Fennman," Moreau said, looking incredibly disappointed. "He's a jackass and now I have to decontaminate my office from his breathing the air." He scowled.

"I'm not thinking about that," Mack replied back, sitting on the far counter as Moreau gestured Captain Rogers over to the examination table. "I'm used to it. Fennman hates Barton and Romanoff, and as such, hates me. Sins of the mentor onto the mentee."

"You didn't deserve the way he spoke to you," Rogers (_Steve_, Mack reminded himself, if he could get himself to call her _Mackenzie_ she would respect his wishes for her to call him _Steve_) said quietly, looking back at the door.

"Thanks," Mack said, shooting him a surprised and grateful look. She looked at Moreau, who grinned as he took out a needle. "Good God, Moreau, I thought Barton and I confiscated all your needles."

"Not all," Moreau cackled. Steve just stared at him as Moreau added, "Relax. I'm just taking a blood sample. You're fine, I was doing tests while you were unconscious."

"Creepy," Mack noted. She sighed before adding, "Coulson was taking care of him for a bit before I got here, right?" She wished she could have seen Coulson when he found out that Captain America was alive. It would have been a wonderful sight.

"He left a few hours ago. Istanbul or something, I don't know. If you hum that _damned_ song, Mackenzie Donahue, I will move your physical up from next month to this moment." Moreau glared at her. "Barton told me you wouldn't stop humming it after your mission there."

Mack went silent, smirking at Steve and winking at him. He gave a half smile at the banter, though most of it seemed to go over his head. It almost the banter reminded him of something from long ago.

"We can grab something to eat on the way to my apartment," Mack said, wondering what would be open right now; it had been a few hours since Steve had escaped SHIELD temporarily, and it was nearing ten o'clock now. "There's a good diner that's still open now, if you're interested."

Steve nodded briskly, and Mack bit her lip. She knew that this wasn't going to be an easy assignment, but being there for a man who had lost his entire life was going to be anything but easy.

* * *

**Author's Note:** THEY MET. OMG THEY MET AT LAST.

Please review, darlings! This is where the fun begins! And apologies for the late update. I spent a lot of this weekend sick, so it took a bit to finish it. We're nowhere near Avengers yet though, so we have a lot of relationship to cover. :D YAY FOR RELATIONSHIP.

Fennman and Moreau are showing up a lot for this arc, so get used to them. Hope to hear from you soon, darlings, hope you enjoyed! Update should be later this week!

**Chapter 10 -** _Voices of Reason_  
Steve watched her for a few seconds, and Mack was pretty sure if he was deciding whether she was insane or just odd.


	10. Voices of Reason

**Author's Note:** Here we are, guys! It's time for the insanely awkward first real conversation they have, along with the first night in the apartment, and where Steve meets Arizona and a bunch of other awkward things. There are a few sweet moments too, and this is the chapter where we remember that both Mack and Steve are incredibly awkward at first.

Also, WE HIT 50 REVIEWS. OMG. WE ARE 10 CHAPTERS IN AND THIS ALREADY HAS 50 REVIEWS. What is this madness? I do not understand it. Thank you to everyone who is reviewing and reading this story, I appreciate it so much, and I'm glad that everyone is enjoying this story just as much as I am!

As a note though, since school is getting crazy with preparations for finals (that'll be a blast), for the next few weeks we'll probably only get an update or two a week, since college is kind of important. But don't worry, once I hit winter break I will go crazy and we'll get a ton of updates and a ton of fun little subplots with Mack and Steve.

As always, I don't own Avengers or any associated acts. I do own Mackenzie and a few other minor characters throughout this. Thanks as always for the support, hope to hear from you guys soon! Please review, and enjoy the chapter as always! I promise they won't always be this awkward.

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 10** – _Voices of Reason_

* * *

**February 19, 2011**

It wasn't until after they had walked out of SHIELD headquarters, down a few blocks, and into the small diner that Mack had been going to since she had moved to New York that she realized she had no idea what to say to Steve Rogers.

The diner itself wasn't the best restaurant in New York, but Mack had gone there after every mission. It was a tradition; celebrate surviving with the (admittedly amazing) strawberry pie that the owner made. She went alone a majority of the time, but occasionally dragged Clint there. She had gotten Natasha to come with her once; Grant had come with her often since Spain.

The diner was almost an inside joke at SHIELD. Mack was part of a weekly tradition of heading to the diner with Moreau and a few others for dinner and relaxation. As she and Steve settled in the booth that Mack had sat in a hundred times before. She hadn't been on one of those trips in weeks. Something had always come up.

"Is anyone still alive?" Steve's question surprised her, and Mack looked up, a bit shaken out of her thoughts.

"What?" she asked, trying to clear her head as she watched him. The pain on his face was gut-wrenching, and Mack felt her heart break again as she noticed the desperation in Steve's (admittedly pretty) eyes.

"Is anyone I knew still alive?" he asked again, his voice a bit more under control now.

She nodded, and the hope that came across his face broke her heart again (Steve Rogers was going to break her heart in a thousand ways, she knew it already). "Dugan lives in Virginia, Dernier is retired and in France, Jones is a French professor at my alma mater." Mack hesitated before adding, "Peggy Carter is living in England."

Steve looked at her in that moment and the shock on his face was almost overwhelming. The relief on his face was almost hopeful, and she had no idea what might have been going through his mind in that moment. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

"She helped to found SHIELD," Mack said, leaning back on her side of the booth. "Along with Dugan and Howard Stark."

He looked up sharply as Howard Stark was mentioned. "What about Howard?" Steve asked. "Is he still alive?"

"He passed away in a car accident years ago. But he never stopped looking for you." Another flash of pain crossed Steve's face, and Mack bit her lip before adding, "He had a son though. Tony Stark." She rolled her eyes before adding, "Spend a bit of time at SHIELD and trust me, you'll hear someone complaining about Tony Stark."

"Why's that?"

Mack bit her lip as was reminded that Steve didn't just have sixty six years of history to be caught up on. "Remind me to put Iron Man on the list of things that need to be covered. That and Doctor Who. You will never survive another hour with Moreau if you don't know what Doctor Who is."

Steve frowned. "Doctor-"

"Mackenzie Donahue, is that you?"

Mack and Steve both looked up, and a smile crossed on Mack's face as an older woman, with dark hair and eyes and a permanent grin in her eyes, hurried over. Steve quieted instantly, watching the older woman before looking back at Mack.

"Hey, Sonya," Mack greeted, standing up and allowing herself to be pulled into a tight bear hug. She hugged the older woman back.

Sonya studied Mack for a few moments before turning to Steve, who had stood up with a shaky smile on his face. "Sonya, this is Steve. He's a coworker of mine," she introduced, not surprised when Steve gave her a kind smile and a firm handshake. "Steve, this is Sonya, who makes the best strawberry pie you will ever have in your life."

Sonya gave a grin. "Date?"

"No," Mack hurriedly said, putting her hands in the air as she repeated, "Coworker. His apartment is having trouble so he's staying with me a few days." Mack felt a bit of amusement when she saw the look on Steve's face.

"It's a pleasure, ma'am," Steve said formally.

"Manners? You never see that anymore," Sonya noted, a sly smirk crossing her face as she glanced between the super soldier and secret agent. Mack ignored the approving look Sonya shot her. "I'm assuming you came here for the pie? You never show up anymore unless it's for pie."

Mack rolled her eyes as she sat back down. "I have a job, Sonya," she reminded her dryly. "It's a bit of a demanding job."

"A business job where your boss decides to send you off literally at the last moment to whatever conference is going on?" Sonya demanded, watching the younger woman with a hawkish gaze.

"Yes," Mack replied firmly, completely calm. She wouldn't have been a SHIELD agent if she couldn't keep to her cover story at least. "I told you, it's a crazy job. But I love it."

Steve watched her, somehow not surprised that she kept up the act so well. Fury had mentioned a few things about Mackenzie Donahue between Times Squire and actually meeting the young agent in Moreau's office a few hours ago. Fury had mentioned that she had been in SHIELD for a bit less than three years, and was among their top agents.

She had also been the one to notice him in the ice.

And something had apparently happened in Australia. Steve had no idea what it might have been, but he knew from the look on her face, the pain and fury in her eyes, that it had been something. He had been able to tell that Fennman had hit her where it hurt, but she had risen to defend herself instantly.

He broke himself out of his thoughts when he noticed her shooting him a concerned look, instead turning his attention to Sonya, who had continued chattering.

"Fine." Sonya raised her hands. "I'll get the damned pie. You two sit. Anything else?"

Steve turned back to Mack after they had placed the rest of their orders. "She doesn't know about SHIELD?" Steve asked once Sonya had left.

Mack shook her head, a bit surprised that he had asked that question. "Outside of my coworkers in SHIELD, no one does. I just say I work in private security." She repressed a shudder as she added, "If my mom knew I was in SHIELD, she might kill me. SHIELD isn't a secret. What we do is."

"And what's that?" Steve asked, shooting her a hard look. "What exactly do you do?"

Mack stared right back, pulling her dark hair over her shoulder before replying, her tone just as steel-like, "Protect people from what they can't protect themselves from."

"Why did you join them then?" he asked. As Mack shot him a confused look, Steve said, "Fury talked about you a bit. He told me you were a psychology student."

"And sociology. Double major. I worked my ass off for that, I am not letting anyone forget it," Mack interrupted, shaking her head as she scowled. Steve watched her for a few seconds, and Mack was pretty sure he was deciding whether she was insane or just odd. "I spent way too many sleepless night studying and camping in Culver's library to not include that I was a double major."

"So why did you join SHIELD then?" Steve asked, trying to get back to the point he had been searching for. He had a feeling that she would do that a lot; distract and divert him from any point or subject she didn't want to talk about.

Mack gave a dry smile. "Maybe I'll tell you someday." She looked over and grinned at Sonya as she brought over the pie. "Oh, you have no idea how much I wanted this."

(He wasn't done with asking, and she wasn't ready to give him the answers he wanted, but maybe someday they both would get what they wanted. For now, there was pie, and that was all Mack really needed at that point in time.)

* * *

It was nearly midnight by the time that they had made it back to her apartment, and Mack was exhausted. It had been a long few days, and Mack was beyond relieved that she was going to get to go back to her bed and actually get some sleep. She knew for a fact that Fury was going to keep her in New York until Steve settled, and she had a feeling it was going to be awhile at the very least.

Steve was way too polite to be a noisy houseguest from what she guessed, and she knew that the apartment they had been preparing for him would be ready in a few days.

"I warned you then, and I'm going to warn you now, I have a dog," Mack told him, pausing outside her door. "He's big. He means well, but he's an idiot."

"It's not a problem," Steve replied, looking at the apartment door before looking back at her.

Mack nodded as she unlocked the door, unsurprised when Arizona came racing forward, barking loudly. "Quiet, sweetie!" Mack hissed, petting her dog as she made her way in. Steve had paused at the sight of the dog, and she guessed he was surprised at the size of him. Arizona was big even for a German Shepard.

"That's Arizona," Mack explained, leaning on the floor and rubbing Arizona's exposed belly. "He's the best part of my life at times, really." She glanced up at the kitchen, frowning when she finally noticed the flowers and bottle of wine sitting there.

They weren't roses; Mack had always disliked roses. Instead, they were a few of the most beautiful lilies that Mack had ever seen in her life. She grinned when she realized that Grant had remembered how much she had hated roses, let alone had remembered how much she loved lilies. It was even her favorite type of wine from the small shop near Times Square that she always bought it at. She noticed Steve looking at the flowers, a bit puzzled, but didn't put too much thought into it.

She paused at the table, noticing a thick file there as well as she read the note next to the flowers.

_Thanks for the place to stay. I'll call you when I get out. – Grant_

Mack gave a small smile, putting the note back on the table before looking at the sofa, unsurprised of the suitcase on there. "I knew Coulson was lying when he said that SHIELD didn't have a key to my apartment."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked. He was looking around the apartment, almost fascinated, and Mack was glad that she had cleaned before leaving for the mission.

"If I'm right, that's a suitcase with clothes your size," Mack explained, setting it on the coffee table and opening it. "I mean, Barton and Coulson both have left clothes here, but you're a bit bigger than either."

Steve nodded slowly. "I don't think I met either of them."

"No, you would remember them." Mack grinned before adding, "Coulson's a big fan of yours. Trust me, you'll know him when you meet him. Barton was my supervising officer and is on active duty right now, so I don't think you'll meet him for a while." She gave a slight yawn as she gestured towards the hallway. "First room on the right is yours, second is the bathroom, and third is my room."

Steve nodded, taking the bag from the couch. "I appreciate this, Mackenzie," he said quietly, shooting her a look even she couldn't read.

"It's not a problem." Mack raised an eyebrow as she watched Arizona calmly trot past the both of them and into the room that she had just told Steve was going to be his. She rolled her eyes, trying not to yell at her dog in front of the gentleman.

"Arizona, baby, c'mon-" Mack pleaded.

"No, it's fine," Steve said, raising his hands. "I can deal with him."

"You're sure?" Mack asked, watching him carefully as he made his way into the bedroom. "He moves his dog bed around, he must have put it in there."

"It's not a big deal." He hesitated as he stood in the doorway of the bedroom, looking at her one last time. "Good night. Thank you again, Mackenzie."

"No problem. I'll see you in the morning." Mack watched as the door closed, and sighed before walking into her bedroom. She shot one last glance at Steve's door before closing her own, hoping that this assignment wasn't going to be as difficult as she suspected it was going to be.

* * *

**February 20, 2011**

It was almost three that next morning when Mack woke and saw that light was coming from underneath her door. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she slipped out of her bed, pulling on the silk robe that was hanging on the wall next to her. Mack took another deep breathe as she made her way to the door.

She made it to the living room, and was only half surprised to see Steve sitting on the couch, a piece of paper sitting on the coffee table in front of him, a pencil in his hand and a look of intense concentration on his face. Arizona sat on the couch next to him, and Mack realized that Steve was sketching Arizona. Peggy Carter had

For a few moments, Mack considered whether she should say something or just leave him alone. He had just gone through an ordeal Mack knew she could never understand, but at the same time, she knew he was going to need someone eventually. She might as well make sure he knew that he could go to her if he needed to.

"Hey." Steve jumped, staring at Mack in surprise as she rubbed her eyes. "You okay?"

The super soldier put the pencil on the coffee table and scratched Arizona's ears as he replied, his voice tight, "I slept for sixty six years, ma'am. I think I've had enough for a while."

Mack didn't both to correct him on the _ma'am_ that time, and mentally slapped herself for not checking on him earlier. She knew she was probably being too hard on herself, but she knew it was a thin line between being there for him and smothering him. She gave a quiet sigh before walking over to the kitchen, taking out some packets of hot chocolate and two of her better mugs.

"You mind hot chocolate?" Mack asked, not looking back as she turned on the sink.

"Not at all. Thank you."

"My pleasure." The brunette agent paused, frowning as she tried to figure something to fill the silence. "Is Arizona being nice to you?" Mack asked after a moment, shooting a serious look at her beloved dog. "He's a diva, but he means well, I promise.

The dog yawned again, almost in response to Mack's comment, and gave a satisfied whine as Steve scratched his ear again. "He's been fine. He came out here with me." Steve gave a soft smile, and Mack was struck for a second how beautiful the man was when he smiled. She shook herself out of the thought. Not the time, nor the place. At all.

Mack laughed. "I'm just amazed that he likes you. He literally hates everyone."

"Even you?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I feed him and take him for walks, so he tolerates me," Mack replied, shrugging. "He loves Natasha – she works for SHIELD, so you might meet her. He adores my neighbor Miss Argent. She takes care of him when I'm on missions."

"How's often is that?" Steve asked, almost curious.

"Fairly. A lot more often since I made full agent status last May." Mack shrugged as she leaned against the counter as the hot chocolate brewed, adding, "The last mission I had was Greece in December. I had a bit of a break between then and now, and then I got called the night of the fourteenth to go to the Arctic because somebody found something."

"The plane," Steve murmured, watching her. Fury had only told him a few details about his recovery; he assumed that Fury was leaving the rest to Mack.

"And you, but we didn't know that until we got into the plane." Mack poured the hot chocolate into the mugs.

As she walked over with the two cups of hot cocoa, Mack's eyes widened as she glimpsed the sketch. "Can I see that?" she asked as she put the two cups on the table. Steve hesitated as he handed it to her, and Mack stared in shock at the almost perfect sketch of Arizona. "You drew this?"

Steve nodded, and Mack shot him a genuine grin. "You're amazing. Seriously, I can barely manage stick figures." She made a mental note to buy some sketchpads and supplies for him at least.

"Thanks," he replied. Steve studied her again, and Mack knew that they could find a middle ground. She was trying to be there for him, but had no idea how.

Mack paused. She had to give a little ground if she wanted him to open up to her, as much as she hated talking about what had driven her into SHIELD. "You asked me earlier why I joined SHIELD."

Steve looked at her, a bit surprised, and Mack stared at him in turn. Their eyes met, and Mack took a deep breath, looking away for a second. "I joined in May, 2008. My SO watched me for a few weeks before hand, and then broke into my apartment and asked me to join. He gave me a day to think about it."

She sighed as the memories of being so terrified came back to the surface. She thought she had left that fear behind a long time ago. "I left work the next night, and I was attacked. I got slammed into my car, slapped around, and a gun got put to my head." Mack bit her lip. She was the worst at talking about the past. Especially about what had happened in that parking lot.

"He was about to shoot me in the head, and my SO saved my life. He tackled the guy a second before he shot me in the head. And after that… I didn't want to be that scared again. I wanted to do something with my life, so… I joined SHIELD." She gave a dry smile. "As idealistic and naïve as it might have been, I wanted to make sure no one felt that way again."

There was silence for almost twenty minutes. Mack drank her hot cocoa as Steve absently stroked Arizona's back. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence; it was rather the silence that came when both were too engrossed in their own thoughts to really think about anything else.

"Who tried to kill you?" Steve finally asked, breaking the silence.

Mack winced. She knew that this part would come up sooner or later, but she had wished that Steve would have more adjustment time before he found this part out. "Hydra. I only found out earlier this year. They had suspicions, but never confirmation. We heard rumors of activity in Greece, and I was able to confirm it, and I was able to confirm their guy was the one who tried to kill me."

"Hydra's still alive?" Steve asked. His spine stiffened as he straightened. There was anger in his eyes now, legitimate anger, and Mack knew from the files what Hydra had done to Steve in the war.

"Apparently," Mack replied grimly. She walked over to the table, picking up the folder she had dropped earlier. She handed it to Steve. "These are a few files you might want to take a look at. About the Howling Commandos, what we know about Hydra, and a few other things. If you need anything else, I can get them."

She paused for a few seconds, putting her mug down and leaning forward, looking right at him before saying, "Look, I'm not going to pretend that I understand what happened to you because honestly, that's an insane disservice to you. But I'm here. I want to help you in any way I can, and if you need me for anything… I'm here. Okay?"

"I appreciate it, I really do," Steve replied, the pain on his face clearer than ever. "But to me, I was in the middle of a war less than a week ago. I know you're here, and I'll go to you if I need to… but I need to get through some of this on my own."

(She understood that. She completely understood that, more than anyone might be able to, because she had been the same way after Australia. What had happened down there had ruined a lot, but she had picked herself up for the most part. At the same time, she never would have been able to do that without Grant and Clint and Natasha and Coulson and hell, even Sitwell, who had gone with her to the diner at four in the morning one day after Spain where she had not been the best at all.)

"Okay." Mack gave him a soft smile before standing. "I'll be in my room if you need me." She shot Arizona a serious look. "Behave, mutt."

"You don't have to leave," Steve said. He shuffled uncomfortably on the sofa, rubbing Arizona's back almost unaware. "It's your apartment."

"Yeah, but it's also three in the morning and I haven't gotten a full night of sleep since Valentine's Day. I'm exhausted." She shot him a smile before adding, "I'll see you later this morning. We can go grab breakfast. Okay?"

He nodded back before she walked away, but guilt ate at her for a few minutes after she walked in her room and closed the door. Steve Rogers had seen firsthand what Hydra had been capable of. Mack herself had almost died. Fury had given her a second assignment to complete

Mack's newest assignment, other than handling Steve's reintegration of the world, was to figure out what Hydra was after and why. Why they had resurfaced now, why they had tried to kill her a few years ago, and any other piece of information that she could find.

Mack was fully confident that the moment the remnants of Hydra discovered that he was alive, Steve Rogers would become a target.

And she would be waiting for them.

* * *

**Author's Note:** So after this there is going to be a minor time skip of a few days, because this was the heart to heart and the next time is a bit more fun and less awkward.

As always, I hoped everyone enjoyed, and I hope to hear what you guys think soon! Thanks for the support as always, next chapter gives us a bit more of

**Chapter 11** – _The Middle Ground_  
It took two more mental slaps than normal for Mack to stop focusing on how pretty Steve Rogers was when he smiled.


	11. The Middle Ground

**Author's Note:** This chapter is one of my favorites so far, because their conversation is much less awkward and Steve is a gentleman and Mack has no idea how to respond to a gentleman, so she snarks and tries to be funny with limited results.

Also, time skip got moved to next chapter because we needed a bit more bonding before we get to that. Plus, I needed to introduce a crucial plot point before I started going into it, so here we go for that. :D

Hope everyone is enjoying so far, thank you as always for the reviews and favorites and alerts! We're getting into a few plotlines now, mostly with them getting close… and then we get the fun stuff. I don't own _Avengers_ as always, hope to hear from you guys! Please review!

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 11** – _The Middle Ground_

* * *

**February 20, 2011**

"So, how was the sleepover with Captain America?"

The next afternoon, Mack frowned over at her coworker as she read through the files they had on Hydra. "It wasn't really a sleepover," she pointed out, flipping a page.

Mack looked down at the image on the page as she added, "I have an extra bedroom, his apartment isn't ready yet, it's pretty simple. Moreau's stayed over before. Hell, Barton practically lives there when he's off."

"It's still something." Connor Hale was a hacker mastermind who, several years ago, had pissed off SHIELD enough to go after him. After Natasha had tracked Connor to Alaska, she had given him a choice: join SHIELD or go to jail.

Mack often suspected that Connor sometimes wished he had chosen jail.

"It's an assignment," Mack replied, shrugging, leaning back in her chair.

The small office they sat in had been Mack's home away from home for a long time. She shared it with Barton and Romanoff, and there were small hints of both of them throughout it – there was a bow on the wall by Clint's desk, Natasha's was strangely empty but had two guns hidden under her desk, and Mack had at least fifteen knives scattered around the room. Since Natasha and Clint were both on missions at the moment, it was Mack's office.

Mack bit her lip. "Arizona likes him at least. I don't have to keep him in my bedroom. Hell, Arizona slept in the guest room with him last night. It was a little odd."

"Your dog hates everyone." Connor paused as he typed into his laptop, raising an eyebrow at her.

She laughed. "Not Steve, apparently."

"You're calling him Steve now?" Connor frowned down at his laptop; someone from the communications had picked up several Hydra transmissions, and Connor had spent the past hour trying to decrypt them.

Mack frowned before looking at Connor. "What is this, an interrogation? He's living with me for a few days, I'm helping him adjust, of course I'm calling him by his first name."

"Did he stop calling you _ma'am_ yet?" Connor asked, laughing as Mack scowled on instinct. "Moreau said you looked murderous when you got called ma'am."

"I'm twenty four; I'm younger than him with or without the sixty six years in ice." Mack shrugged before adding, "He calls me Mackenzie, and I call him Steve. It works, and hopefully he'll figure out he can go to me if he needs anything."

"Hopefully." Connor paused. "Heard from Grant?"

"He left a note in my apartment after Valentine's Day, but I'm assuming he's in his deep cover op now," Mack explained, shrugging calmly as she smiled on the inside. "It could be a month or two until he gets out."

Connor nodded slowly as he glanced again at Natasha's chair. He had taken residence at Clint's desk, since Natasha did terrify Connor half to death. She had been the one to go after him a few years ago, and he had never quite recovered from it. "Do you think Romanoff booby traps her chair?" he wondered.

"I'd bet so." Mack frowned at the screen on the side of the room lit up with a message. "Wait, I can't read that. What is it?"

"German, I'm guessing," Connor replied, shrugging helplessly as he stared at it. He brought up two more messages in the same language. "I'm a computer nerd, Mack, not a linguist."

"Call Cecelia up here." Mack sat down on her desk, crossing her legs as she looked at the message. Languages had been one of the things she had learned from Natasha in particular, but it had been Spanish and French and Russian. They had never gotten to German. "See if she can come up and translate, I'll add her in the op."

Cecelia was in the office a few minutes later, dark hair loose around her shoulders as she shot a bright smile in greeting to both Connor and Mack. "Hey, I got the message. What's up?"

"German translation." Mack gestured at the screen before explaining, "I'm investigating Hydra remnants that are getting more active by the day, so I need to know what they're saying."

Cecelia frowned at the image. "So, I'm translating that?" she asked as Mack nodded in confirmation. "Do I have this clearance level?" Cecelia wondered, shooting a concerned look at Mack.

"Fury wants Hydra taken down. He won't mind." Mack shrugged. Fury had told her to do whatever she had to in order to take Hydra down, he wouldn't complain if she brought on SHIELD's top German expert onto it. "Obviously it doesn't leave this room."

"Duh." Cecelia was quiet for the first few minutes, other than the occasional murmur or curse in German. Cecelia Roberts had been hired for her mastery of the German language, and Mack had a feeling she was going to need include her in it.

"How's Captain Rogers?" Cecelia asked after she had gone through the first message, writing notes down in the black notebook on Mack's desk. "I didn't see him again after Moreau pulled that little stunt."

"You're never going to forgive him for that, are you?" Connor asked, shooting a few terrified glimpses at Natasha's chair. Considering that Mack was half sure that Natasha booby trapped the thing, Mack wasn't convinced the looks weren't justified.

"Never in a million years." Cecelia scowled. "I've never been more scared in my life than when I saw his face." She looked at Mack. "Tori's back tomorrow from her honeymoon, so we were thinking a diner run for dinner. Maybe Captain Rogers could come."

"He feels bad about scaring you, but I think that might be good," Mack said. He had liked Sonya when he had met him, and Steve had enjoyed the strawberry pie. "He's actually really sweet. Boy next door, all that jazz. He made breakfast today. And figured out the microwave with no problem."

"He's not horrible looking either," Cecelia admitted, smirking as she turned her attention back to the message. "And he's smart. He's an insane strategist. Technology shouldn't be that much of a problem."

"I'll have to go through his phone with him, but that's about it," Mack said, glancing over at the SHIELD-issued phone that was meant for Steve. "He's handling the technology shock better than I thought he would. He'll be fine."

"Are you going to tell him about this?" Connor asked, gesturing towards the screen. "That you're tracking down Hydra?"

"He knows it's still active, but not that I'm tracking them down." Mack's answer was short, and she shot a warning glance at Connor to drop it. He, of course, didn't.

Connor shot her a disapproving look. "So, despite the fact that this guy knows more about Hydra than pretty much any other living person, you're not going to tell him that your secondary goal is to track and take down the remnants of Hydra?" he summarized, shaking his head. "You know how stupid this choice is, right?"

"Well, to him, he was fighting Johann Schmidt two weeks ago," Mack snapped back, rolling her eyes at Connor. She was not going to back down on what she had decided. "I'm going to let him get used to 2011 before I drag him back to the past."

Connor rolled his eyes. "He's a soldier! He's fought against Hydra! You know nothing about fighting Hydra!"

"I'm a highly trained SHIELD agent; I think I can handle fighting the remnants of a cult who go with the cliché of Greek mythology to get their point across." Mack stepped closer, eyes narrowed dangerously and hands on her hips.

Connor gave a disbelieving snort. "You've made some stupid decisions, Mack, but this is one of the-"

"Will you both shut up?" Cecelia bellowed, whirling in her chair as she glared at the tech expert and the agent. "You're both being stupid. Connor, stop attacking her choices, she's in charge of this op. And Mack, yes, not involving the guy who was fighting against Hydra during its prime is incredibly stupid."

Cecelia shot them both one last glare. "Now both of you shut up so I can focus on translating this stupid message!"

She shook her head before turning back to the text, eyes narrowed in concentration and irritation. Connor and Mack exchanged dark looks before the man shrugged and turned his attention back to the screen. Mack shook her head.

She didn't want to get Steve Rogers involved in this. He had woken up less than a week ago. For him, he had been fighting in World War II only just prior to that. He had a new century to adjust to, a brand new world to discover, and Mack believed dragging him back into the past would not be the best thing for everyone.

(She hoped she was making the right decision for it.)

"We have a problem." Cecelia's face had turned grim as she looked at Mack.

"What?" Mack asked, a bit worried at the tone in Cecelia's voice.

Cecelia gestured towards the mission on the screen. "Okay, gist of this mission is that this Hydra remnant is getting the report that Captain America has been recovered and is alive."

"How would they know that?" Connor demanded. His voice was both confused and curious. "It's not exactly common knowledge. I mean, it is in SHIELD, but outside it? No way."

"It gets better." Cecelia scrolled down on the message, highlighting the final line of the message. "The final line is when it was sent. February 16th, 2011."

Mack looked over sharply, eyes wide and face a shade paler than usual. She knew that Hydra would eventually find out that Steve was alive, but she hadn't expected them to figure it out that quickly. There was no way that they should have been able to discover that knowledge that quickly. They hadn't even known it was him until the fifteenth, barely a day earlier.

Mack ran a hand through her hair. "That's a few days ago. I don't think we even told the US government yet." She frowned. "Does the US government know that we found him anyway?"

"They weren't alerted until last night," Miguel confirmed, typing into his laptop. He tapped the screen and nodded. "Yep. Fury didn't alert the US government until late last night, after Moreau checked him out and you two left."

"Exactly," Cecelia replied. She glimpsed the grim look on Mack's face, and groaned. "Oh, great, so it _does_ mean what I think it is?"

Mack nodded, the seeds for a headache already spreading when she realized exactly what it meant. "There's a spy for Hydra in SHIELD."

* * *

There was something in his gut that told Steve Rogers not to trust Doctor John Fennman.

Steve had been a soldier; he knew better than anyone that trusting a gut feeling could mean the difference between life or death. For the life of him, he could not figure out why he didn't trust the psychiatrist.

On some level, he realized, it was partially because his first impression of the man was his argument with Mackenzie the other day. Steve had realized by now that Mackenzie was something different and could take care of herself, but she was there. He had seen the pain in her eyes that first day, had noticed it in little details of her.

The fact that there was a knife strapped under the bedside table in the guest room of her apartment also told Steve that she was more than a little scarred.

Mackenzie had _talked_ to him so far, and tried to help him as much as possible, and for that, Steve was grateful. She hadn't tried to pretend that she understood what he was going through. They weren't friends, they weren't allies, but Steve appreciated what Mackenzie was trying to do, that she was willing to try and all to help him. For that, Steve would defend her.

It only took a few seconds for Fennman to bring Mackenzie up.

"I still do not believe that Agent Donahue has the qualifications necessary to handle your situation with the care it requires."

"She's done well so far," Steve replied, his voice polite and calm. Inside, he was farther from calm. He had never liked bullies, and he realized that exactly what Fennman was; a bully who expected to get his way at the cost of others.

"So far as you know, Captain," Fennman replied, his tone far too smug for Steve's comfort. "I will make a note of her inability on your sheet."

"With all due respect, Doctor," Steve replied, his tone cool. "Mackenzie has been there for me enough, and unless she wants out, I would appreciate having her helping me here." He didn't want to admit he wanted help, but he wanted anyone but Fennman giving it. "I will talk to Director Fury about it if it comes up. Is that a problem?"

Fennman gave what Steve supposed was a comforting smile that came off as much more patronizing. "With all due respect, Captain Rogers, I will ask the questions here."

"I thought this was a psychiatry session, not an interrogation," Steve said, narrowing his eyes from across the room.

Fennman gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I wanted to ask you about two of your companions – James Barnes and Margaret Carter."

That was the end of it. Steve stood a moment later, his back stiff and his blue eyes angry. His voice as cold as ice as he said, "Thank you, Doctor Fennman." He walked out of the room, and did not look back.

* * *

"Fennman's an asshole."

The blunt statement surprised Steve. A few hours after the rather disastrous first meeting with the psychiatrist, Steve had destroyed another punching bag and made his way to Doctor Moreau's office. He would try and track down Mackenzie's office a bit later, but he knew she was probably still working.

"I'm sorry?" Steve asked, frowning over at him.

"Fennman's an asshole," Moreau repeated. He had been reading Steve's medical files for the past hour, asking periodic questions along the way. Moreau sat down the file before saying, "You want my honest advice? Avoid him, go to Kenzie. She'll listen but won't coddle, while Fennman will mostly just rant about why your way of coping sucks. She's the middle ground pretty much. Kenzie was going to become a psychiatrist, but Barton recruited her."

Steve frowned at the mention of the name. "Mackenzie's mentioned a Barton a few times."

Moreau nodded, picking up Steve's medical file again as he read through it. "Agent Clint Barton. He recruited Mack just as she graduated college, brought her into SHIELD. He trained her as a field agent, but she's smarter than most people give her credit for. They're close."

Moreau shot Steve a horrified look. "You can't get drunk?"

Steve shook his head. "Nope."

"You poor, unfortunate soul."

Steve smirked, a bit distracted as he remembered his meeting with Fennman. The word that had come to mind with Fennman had been _bully_. He had seen it earlier; Fennman had tried to bully Mack out of an assignment, had attacked whatever had happened in Australia. Fury himself had narrowed his eyes at the mention of Australia, and Steve himself had seen Mack's entire posture change.

Something had happened there to her, and he had no idea what.

"What happened in Australia?" Steve asked.

Moreau dropped his file, and stared at Steve for a few seconds. "Don't ask me again," he said, his voice almost calm. Steve could sense the anger at the edge of it. "It happened to Kenzie, and if she wants to tell you someday, she will. But Fennman had no right to bring it up and use it against her."

"She looked upset after it," Steve noted. He remembered the look in her eyes after, a look he recognized: pain from wounds that hadn't really healed completely. "She looked calm, but…"

Moreau grinned, but he didn't seem too surprised. "You caught that. She _was_ upset, but trust me, Fennman wouldn't have dared to brought it up if Barton or Romanoff were there. I'm pretty sure Barton's been looking for an excuse to kill Fennman and save SHIELD a lot of trouble."

Steve nodded slowly as Moreau continued, "Just go to her if you need her. She cares about helping you."

They returned to silence after that, and Steve wasn't sure what the glimmer in Moreau's eyes had been about. He also wasn't sure why he still felt some anger that Fennman had attacked Mackenzie again earlier. He jumped slightly as Moreau stood, the glimmer changing into something a bit more manic.

"Oh, I remember what I wanted to show you!"

* * *

"Hey."

Hours later, Mack jumped and closed the file on her desk on instinct as the silence was broken by a familiar voice and a knock on the door. Standing in the doorway of the office was Steve, who looked exhausted and stressed, which honestly wasn't too much of a shock. Mack sat straighter, shooting him a quick smile.

"Hey," Mack replied, a bit surprised to see him. "Something up?"

Steve shook his head, shuffling slightly. "It's eleven at night."

Mack frowned before looking at the clock on the wall, rubbing her temples when she realized that she had spent pretty much all day and half the night reading up on anything Hydra she could find. She hadn't even realized that much time had passed. "Didn't even realize it was this late," she admitted.

Mack turned back at him and gave Steve a weak smile. "You stayed?"

"I was waiting for you," he replied.

"Uh huh," Mack replied, raising an eyebrow as she leaned back in her chair. She smiled at him as she tilted her head, waiting for another explanation. Steve looked decidedly uncomfortable for a few seconds.

"I didn't want to leave you to walk home alone," he admitted, looking away from her for a few seconds.

Mack shot him a smile that was as kind as she could manage when she was running on less than seven hours of sleep. "You do remember I'm a SHIELD agent here, right?" she asked. "I think I can handle walking home alone.

"We're going to the same place anyway." Steve shrugged easily, and Mack raised an eyebrow. "And I might have forgotten how to get to your apartment," he admitted.

Mack's face broke out into a grin. "You could have gotten me, you know." She put the files together, grabbing the key from its perch as she picked up her bag and walked out the door with Steve. She locked the office tightly, reengaging security as she said, "I don't bite."

"Moreau said you were working, I didn't want to disturb you."

"It's fine, just get me next time, okay?" Mack looked at him, and then raised an eyebrow. "And smile a bit. I'm not going to bite."

Steve chuckled, and actually shot her a smile. It took two more mental slaps than normal for Mack to stop focusing on how pretty Steve Rogers was when he smiled. She knew it was bad when she had known the man for barely more than a day and had to keep slapping herself mentally to concentrate.

Stupid pretty boy.

"So, what were you up to today?" Mack asked as they walked on the seats. Mack led slightly, and she could tell Steve was memorizing the way from SHIELD to her apartment. "I was in the office all day; I'm trying to finish up some paperwork."

"I was in the gym for a bit, with Moreau for a few hours." A half amused, half bemused expression crossed Steve's, and Mack recognized it instantly. Spending any more than an hour with Moreau would produce that expression on anyone's face.

"Moreau showed you the cat pictures, didn't he?" Mack asked, rolling her eyes. When he looked at her in surprise, Mack gave a giggle. "Typical Moreau. He's… odd. He has eleven cats. Each of them are named after a Doctor. Moreau's a _Doctor Who_ fanboy."

"_Doctor Who_?" Steve asked.

"TV show, Moreau's obsessed with it. Just smile and nod whenever he gets on about it, and whatever you do, don't bring up Rose Tyler. He has a lot of feelings about her." Mack chuckled as she practically watched the explanation fly over his head. "You'll get used to it."

"Will I?" Steve murmured, looking up at the lights of the city. Mack had a feeling he wasn't talking about the world of _Doctor Who_ references that Moreau lived in.

She didn't answer him. Mack was confident that he could adjust, but she knew he had to be in a lot of pain at that moment. There was no way she could blame him for that, but she just wished there was an easier way to help him.

She remembered in that instant. Mack paused before looking at him. "Oh, tomorrow night is the usual diner run, the one from last night that you and I went to. It's not a lot of people. Moreau will be there. Tori, Connor, Cecelia…"

"I've heard the name Cecelia." Steve's eyes were narrowed in concentration as he thought, and Mack smiled. She noticed that he didn't give her a straight answer as to whether he would come.

"You met Cecelia." Steve looked at her again, and Mack added, "Briefly. She was the one in the room when you woke up."

Steve paused on the sidewalk, and Mack again glimpsed the pain in his eyes. "They chose her because she looked like…"

"Like Peggy. Cecelia gave everyone hell for that. She's actually part of linguistics. Moreau's an idiot, if you hadn't figured it out, and he thought that seeing someone like Peggy would help you." Mack raised her hands in surrender, continuing to walk as she added, "Just always remember; Moreau is an idiot. He means well… but he's an idiot."

"He didn't seem too bad," Steve replied, looking thoughtful. "Just… odd."

"He is," Mack confirmed, nodding confidently. She bit her lip before adding, "But he's also a medical genius. Trust me; they could not have given you a better doctor."

Steve almost hesitated with his next remark. "The psychiatrist on the other hand, Doctor Fennman…"

"He's an asshole," Mack replied bluntly as Steve looked at her in surprise. "He's literally one of the biggest assholes I've met in SHIELD and I've been in here for almost three years." She shot him a concerned look. "Did you talk to him?"

"Briefly. I walked out." Steve shrugged, but Mack caught the darker look in his eyes at the mention of the psychiatrist. She also saw the slight lie he gave her. "He wanted to talk about a few things I wasn't ready to yet, and said a few things I didn't want to hear."

He hesitated before saying, "He was going after you again, and I just walked out. You've been trying to help me, and you didn't deserve it. I don't like bullies, and that's exactly what he is."

The admission surprised her, and Mack wondered if she was actually beginning to succeed in getting slightly close to the man in front of her. "If you need to talk… whenever you're ready to, I'm here. You know that, right?" Mack asked.

"I know, and I appreciate it." Steve sighed as they entered her apartment building. "It'll just take some time."

"I don't blame you." Mack paused at her mailbox on the side of the wall, unlocking it and grabbing her mail. She grinned at the white envelope with her address written in purple crayon. "Aww, I got something from the munchkins." She looked back up at Steve and explained, "I have a brother and a sister, both married with kids – Sean has three boys, Bridget has one girl and is pregnant again. Looks like I got something from one of the munchkins."

Steve smiled, and she realized it actually appeared genuine. "I saw the pictures in your apartment. I was wondering who they were."

"I love those kids." Mack slipped the letters under her arm and pushed her floor's button in the elevator after they both were in it. She continued, "I doubt I'm going to have kids of my own. SHIELD takes too much of my time, so I settle for being the cool aunt."

Steve was quiet for a few seconds. "How much of my file did you read?" he asked, looking at her with a bit of apprehension on his face. "About what I did right after the procedure."

"Enough, Star Spangled Man with a Plan," Mack teased, laughing as he rolled his eyes. Her eyes sparkled as she added, "If it makes you feel better, I went through a crappy song writing phase in middle school."

Steve grinned (an actual, legitimate grin, and Mack slapped herself mentally again to keep from thinking how pretty he was), the expression on his face nostalgic and a bit lost. "There were always a lot of kids at those shows… one of my favorite parts was getting to meet them. They believed in it, you know what I mean?"

She nodded as she listened. "Maybe I'll introduce you to them," Mack mentioned. Steve shot her a surprised look, and Mack shrugged. "My nieces and nephews I mean. I work all the time, I know, but I can take a weekend. They're in Pennsylvania; it's not that far away…"

Steve smiled at her. "I'd like that a lot, actually."

Mack smiled back and had partial success in ignoring the light fluttering in her stomach.

* * *

**Author's Note:** So look! Bonding! Mack and Steve are bonding! Slowly but surely, and Mack is kinda keeping it quiet that she's hunting down Hydra and slightly using Steve to draw them in. Yes, this is going to bite her on the ass in a spectacular fashion eventually.

Next chapter is gonna hurt. I subscribe to the headcanon where Steve has minor PTSD, so I'm going to play around with that next chapter. But we also have a Moreau and Steve scene! We're going to start having more Steve sections in _Bohemia_.

This section also subscribes to the headcanon where Steve doesn't actually have problems adjusting to technology, because this is a guy who managed to steer a plane into a controlled landing with no prior experience. Steve is a lot smarter than people give him credit for, and as such, he'll get the hang of technology pretty quickly.

As always, please review, loves, because next chapter is a fun one. Muhahahaha. You can tell by the spoiler. Thanks as always!

**Chapter 12** – _Before We Fall_  
Mack crashed down, pain exploding in her wrist. She had barely hit the floor when she felt the sharp, cold blade of a knife sitting on her throat.


	12. Before We Fall

**Author's Note:** So, wow. The response to last chapter was great! Eight reviews!? I'm kind of in shock, honestly! I can't wait until we get to the romantic and action chapters that are going to come after these two bond and get to know each other a bit more. Steve/Mack have a long way to go though, so hopefully the hints in this chapter are good enough for now.

This also goes into a new plotline, because I do believe that Steve is suffering from minor PTSD after his revival from the ice through the early part of _Avengers_. This is going to be a recurring plot thread, and this goes into the next chapter. You'll see what I mean.

Oh, and also? We hit over 50,000 words with this chapter. We are just reaching Chapter 12. That means that this is going to be a very long story, since we have a lot of stuff to go through before we get to _Avengers_. But don't worry; we have plenty of fun stuff until then.

However, there is a low chance of an update before Friday. I have a huge project due Thursday, and tomorrow is going to be devoted to getting it done. I'll be able to write again Thursday afternoon, and then will post sometime on Friday. Finals are coming though, so updates are going to be a bit sparse. I'll update as much as I can, since this is a joy to work on, but I can't make any promises.

As always, thanks to everyone for the reviews, reads, favorites, and subscribes! I appreciate the support to much, and as always, I don't own _Avengers_ or Steve or any recognizable characters. Only Mack is my own. Please review, and thanks for reading!

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 12** – _Before We Fall_

* * *

**February 21, 2011**

The diner run had been a decent thing for all of them, though Connor had been forced to practically drag Mack out of her office by the time they were heading to dinner. Steve and Cecelia's meeting had been awkward at first due to her admittedly uncanny resemblance to Peggy, but it seemed to be less of a problem by the end of the night.

To the surprise of them all, Steve hit it off with Dr. Tori Roberts, Moreau's assistant (though she claimed she was more his babysitter and minder than anything else). Tori had just returned from her honeymoon, and everyone had been hit with a second bombshell when Tori had mentioned to Steve that she was Dugan's granddaughter.

"Step-granddaughter, technically," Tori admitted, shrugging as they walked out of the diner after dinner. "But Gramps is Mom's dad in pretty much everything. He married Nana when Mom was like four, so he's my grandfather for all intents and purposes." She grinned. "I love that old man."

"It didn't come up in the files I researched," Mack said, scowling as she leaned against the side of the diner. She stood next to Steve, frowning in curiosity at Tori.

"Gramps asked Fury to keep it quiet," Tori replied, shrugging. "Or really, I asked Gramps to ask him to keep it quiet. Didn't want it influencing what I did in work any way." She shot Steve a smile. "He talks about you all the time. He's thrilled you're alive."

"He knows?" Steve asked. He looked happier than Mack had seen him before with the news about Dugan.

"His contact information is in the folder. So are Dernier and Jones' contact information, along with a few others," Mack replied, shrugging as Steve looked at her in surprise, an accusation playing in his face. "You never asked. And never looked in the folder."

"Thanks for letting me know," Steve replied, glaring at her in mild frustration.

"My pleasure, Rogers." Mack shot him a winning smile. To her pleasure, it received a fond half smile in return.

"So Sam's back to work then?" Connor asked, shooting a strange look between Steve and Mack as he tried to change the topic. He looked at Steve before adding, "Sam's a field agent. Sam and Tori's relationship was the staple for half the betting pools at work."

Tori glared at him. "He just got sent on another mission." Tori shot a look over at Steve before looking to Mack and adding, "I think he was joining Grant wherever he is."

Steve frowned for a second before looking at the others. "Grant?" he asked. He half remembered the name, but couldn't remember from where.

"Grant Ward. He's a field agent. Her boyfriend," Connor explained, gesturing over to Mack.

Mack rolled her eyes on instinct. "Not my boyfriend," corrected Mack, shooting the darkest glare she could manage at Connor. She looked back at Steve before adding, "Boy who is a friend. Not a boyfriend. We'd kill each other in a committed relationship."

There was an odd look on Steve's face, almost surprised in a way. Mack frowned as she watched him, wondering why she was so dead set on making sure that they all knew that she and Grant weren't together. Grant was her friend, of course, and of course there was the sex, but it wasn't romantic. She didn't think it was at least.

But then again, she wasn't sure what she and Grant were half the time.

Mack sighed and made a mental note to figure out what exactly she and Grant Ward were, and to figure out why she cared so much why she cared what Steve Rogers thought of her.

It happened right then.

A loud bang crashed through the relatively quiet night, and Mack felt someone grab her arm, pulling her back. A moment later, she realized it was Steve, who had pulled him behind her, his body tense. The look on his face reminded Mack of Barton's _SHIELD face_ – the look of a professional in his element.

"Car backfired," Cecelia murmured, trying to catch her breath. Cecelia jumped when someone clapped, so Mack wasn't too surprised at her reaction.

Moreau groaned, glaring down the street. "This is why I don't drive cars. Stupid, loud, idiotic machines."

"Steve." Mack didn't look at the others, keeping her voice low as she grabbed Steve's arm. He flinched heavily and looked down at her, his face startled. "Steve, you okay?"

He didn't answer, and instead glanced down the street back towards the car. The look on his face was one that terrified her, and she it reminded her of Barton and Romanoff even more. The psychology graduate in her whispered something familiar, but she couldn't remember for the life of her what exactly it was.

"Steve, you okay?" Mack demanded, shaking his arm. Frustration leaked into her voice. "Steve?"

He answered that time at least. Steve nodded stiffly, not looking at her. "I'm fine," he replied, taking a deep breath. "I'm fine."

Mack didn't call him out on the obvious lie, but almost wished she had.

* * *

**February 23, 2011**

Mack had been looking through her closet for a pair of shoes when she found it.

Mack's thesis had centered on PTSD in war veterans. She had interviewed countless people, had researched hours into the night. She had learned the ins and outs of it, had learned to recognize it. She had experienced it herself after Budapest, after Brazil and Australia, but she had recovered from it those three times, and it had never been too serious a case for her.

As Mack looked down at her thesis, her stomach dropping, she realized exactly why the expression on Steve's face had been familiar that night, and wondered how she hadn't realized it before.

* * *

**February 24, 2011 **

"I think Steve might have PTSD."

Moreau frowned as he looked up from his bag of popcorn. "What makes you ask that?" he wondered, looking carefully at Mack.

From her position on one of the tables in Moreau's office, Mack shrugged. "Just a few reactions. He's been having nightmares. I mean like every night. He's always up way before I am. He doesn't sleep a lot; he jumped when that car backfired the other day."

Moreau frowned. "The only way we'd know for sure is Fennman confirming it."

"After the first incident, I don't think Steve's going to Fennman for anything." Mack bit her lip. "I'm worried about it."

"I think we're all worried about him," Moreau replied. He glanced down at the medical files before adding, "He watched his best friend fall to his death, crashed a jet into the ocean while saying goodbye to the girl he loved, and woke up sixty six years in the future. He's handling it well… but he's screwed up from it somehow."

Mack winced at the list of events, which she knew had taken place within three weeks in his mind. "So you think I might be right?"

Moreau sighed. "I don't think you're wrong."

That worried her even more.

* * *

**February 25, 2011**

It was a few days later when Mack awoke to the sound of a crash in Steve's room.

She acted on instinct as she heard the crash. Her body and mind were alert in an instant, and her hand flew to her dresser, pulling the drawer open and grabbing the knife in there. Mack hid knives all over her house; nowhere that Arizona could get to them, but just in case she was ever attacked in her home, which was an absolute possibility.

Mack was silent for a few minutes, realizing that she hadn't heard another crash since the initial one. Instead, she focused, trying to regain her bearings.

The last few days had been rounds of actual, decent bonding experience. They had joked around, actually made progress on getting to be friends.

The day before, Arizona had gotten into Steve's clothes and had swallowed a sock. Mack could handle assassins and terrorists without flinching, but dealing with her choking dog had been a nightmare. Steve had been an absolute rock, helping her get Arizona to the vet, sitting with her in the office for six hours and just being there. Arizona was still at the vet's, and would be until tomorrow.

Mack gave a startled gasp as she realized it: _Steve_.

Her mind went to the worst case scenario immediately: HYDRA had found him. Steve might have been injured or dead by now, depending on what HYDRA might have been planning. Mack forced herself to calm for a few seconds; HYDRA had no way of knowing where the apartment was.

(They also were supposed to have no idea that he was still alive.)

Mack stood out of bed instantly, glad she had chosen shorts and a tank top for bed that night. She grabbed the knife in her hand, hurrying out of her bedroom, down the hall to Steve's room. She tried to open it instantly, shaking her head when she realized it was lock.

"Steve?" Mack called, pounding on the door. "Steve, it's Mack! Open up!" Her heart was beating fast, and she muttered out a curse. "Steve, dammit, answer me!"

Mack stood on her toes as she felt the top of the door, trying to find the key that unlocked the door. "Dammit!" she hissed when she realized it was gone. It had been there a few days ago. "Steve, I'm breaking down the door!"

She took a deep breath before slamming her foot forward into the door, near the lock, wincing and wishing she had thought of getting shoes as pain shot through her foot and up her leg. She knew that if Steve was hurt, every second counted. The door shot open with a loud bang, and Mack hurried inside, gripping the knife tightly.

And then it happened, before she had time to react. Something grabbed her wrist, and Mack gasped in pain as she felt something crack in it. Her knife dropped to the floor instantly. Her legs were kicked out from under her a second later. Mack crashed down, pain exploding in her wrist. She had barely hit the floor when she felt the sharp, cold blade of a knife sitting on her throat.

A second later, Mack realized who had attacked her.

"Steve, wake up, you're alright! Wake up!" Mack struggled, her body tensing as she realized that she might have to fight off a super soldier.

(The psychology graduate in her screamed _PTSD_ and _flashback_ and _nightmare_. The SHIELD agent in her told her the best way to bring down the super soldier in front of her. The twenty-four year old realized that she had a super soldier on top of her, holding a knife to her throat.)

Mack could barely see his face in the dim light, but she saw the expression on his face. This wasn't Steve in front of her; this was the super soldier, the man who had turned the tide of a war. Mack could handle defending herself, but her apartment had enough property damage, and her wrist was probably broken already. She closed her eyes as pain shot through her again.

And if it was going to be her versus a super soldier, Mack knew she was going to lose.

"Mackenzie?"

Mack opened her eyes as the knife clattered to the floor beside her. Steve was clearly awake now, eyes wide with horror when he saw that he was on top of her. "Oh my God," he whispered, his hand shaking. He stumbled off of her, sitting against the wall. "Oh my God, Mackenzie, I am so sorry."

"Hey, it's okay," Mack replied, her tone a bit sharp as pain shot through her wrist. "It's okay."

She looked at him then, and realized how freaked out he was. "Not your fault," Mack said, unable to keep a wince as she struggled to keep herself up.

Steve was breathing heavily, and his eyes were wide and panicked. "Oh my God…" He immediately looked at her wrist, and his face flashed with guilt. "Oh God."

Mack glared at him. "Steven Grant Rogers, you look at me, right now." He looked up, and her heart broke anew when she saw the tears in his eyes. "It is not your fault. Okay? This isn't your fault." Her wrist practically had her own heartbeat now, but she was positive it wasn't broken. "It's okay."

He didn't answer, instead closing his eyes and leaning his head against the wall as he tried to calm his breathing down. Mack could have sworn she saw tears in his eyes just before he had closed them.

"This is not your fault," Mack repeated.

They both sat there for a few silent minutes, both trying to breath. Steve would not look at her, and Mack did not look away from him. For a few minutes, both sat there, lost with no idea where to go from there.

A half an hour later, after cleaning up the door and Mack assuring Miss Argent that she had fallen out of bed, and yes, her wrist was fine, Mack held back her wince as Steve wrapped her wrist up as much as he could. She was pretty positive it was broken, but there wasn't anything she could do at the moment. It was two am, and she was not going to the hospital at that moment.

"I'll get it checked with Moreau tomorrow," she murmured.

Steve ran a hand through his hair. "Mackenzie-"

"It is not your fault," Mack interrupted, shooting him a pointed look. "This is not your fault." She took a good look at her wrist, and then hesitated as she looked at him. "What was it?" she asked.

"I'm sorry?" Steve asked, looking at her. Mack saw the guilt on his face, and cursed herself mentally. She had wondered earlier if he would have PTSD, had talked to Moreau about it, but hadn't said anything else beyond that. She was an absolute idiot.

"What was the nightmare?" Mack asked, her voice a bit firmer as she stood up. She walked over to the kitchen, opening one of the cabinets and pulling out the bottle of red wine Grant had gotten her. "You want a glass?"

Steve hesitated before nodding, and Mack took a second glass before heading back over with the glasses, bottle, and the bottle opener. "Moreau told me you can't get drunk."

Steve shook his head. "Trust me, I've tried. It never happened."

Mack winced. "I feel for you."

Steve chuckled before taking the glass, glancing at it. "Moreau said you were more of a wine girl."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you and Moreau talk about me?" Mack asked. She tilted her head to the side, shooting him a teasing smile

"You and Moreau talk about me," Steve shot back, looking a bit relieved at the change of topic.

"You're his patient and it's my job to make sure you're adjusting, of course we're going to talk about you," Mack replied, shooting him a look as he fell silent. "What did Moreau say about me?"

"That I should ignore Fennman and go to you if I need to talk to someone." Steve leaned back against the couch, and shook his head. "I'm not going back to him. I don't trust him."

She was a bit surprised at that. Mack had been friends with Moreau for over two years; Moreau and Barton were surprisingly good friends. She was surprised that Moreau would have said that about her, and she was more surprised when she realized that Steve was starting to trust her.

Mack nodded slowly as she returned to the conversation at hand. "What was the nightmare about?"

He was silent for a few minutes. "How much of my file did you read?" Steve asked her.

"Everything we had on you," Mack replied, her tone calmer. She had read everything SHIELD had about him, because when she had an assignment, she gave it her all. If she wanted to help the man in front of her, she had to understand him first. "Before, during, and after the serum, up to your disappearance."

"Then you read about Bucky," Steve said. Pain and guilt flashed behind his eyes again.

"He was your best friend." Mack nodded slowly. "James Barnes."

"He was more than my best friend. He was my brother." Steve sighed before gesturing down at his body. "I wasn't always like… this. This was after the serum."

"I've seen the photos." Mack didn't offer judgment, and just sat and watched him. He needed to talk about this if he was ever going to be able to adjust.

"Bucky looked after me. When he joined the Army, Erskine found me, and you know how that turned out." Mack nodded as Steve sighed. "When I was in Europe, I found out he was missing behind enemy lines."

"You went him and saved him, and the Howling Commandos was formed not long after." Mack nodded calmly.

She remembered being impressed about that part in particular – that Steve had gone in against orders and had risked his life to save a friend. Steve had risked his life to save Bucky. She had done that before, with Natasha for Clint in Budapest. Natasha and Clint had gone after her in Brazil after that nightmare.

Mack understood how far friends would go for each other, and that just made her respect the man in front of her even more.

"We were winning fights, getting out alive… we were doing something useful. We were doing well." Steve hesitated before he finished, "We were sent to capture a scientist who was with Hydra, Dr. Zola. It went bad… I watched Bucky fall to his death. I thought I dealt with it… but the guilt's still there."

He went silent, and then looked out the window. "That's what I saw tonight. I saw him die again."

Mack nodded slowly. She understood that. On some levels, guilt never really left. "He sounds like a good guy," she murmured.

Steve gave a small, half bitter smile as he looked at Mack. "You actually remind me of him."

Mack raised an eyebrow as she poured herself another glass. "Wait, I remind you of Bucky?" she asked, staring at him in confusion. "This I've got to hear."

Steve's smile went a little less bitter, and took on a bit more fondness in it. "You don't let anything stand in your way. You're both tough, you're both the biggest smart mouths I've ever met, you're both stubborn to the point of idiocy-"

Mack laughed. "You so don't know me well enough for that last remark."

"Moreau told me about Rome." Steve raised an eyebrow as Mack went silent, but she caught the amusement in his eyes easily enough. "Still say you're not stubborn?"

Mack scowled and rolled her eyes, though she was a bit mortified at the fact that Steve had heard about what had happened in Rome. "Rome was a special case for a lot of things. Fury is never going to forgive me or Tasha for it. I think Sitwell shudders when he hears Rome."

Steve nodded slowly; he filed the names away for later and wondered how often Mack had annoyed Fury in some way. He had a feeling it was more than either let on. For a few minutes, they both sat in silence, and Steve glanced back at her wrist. It had been easy to notice her wincing every time she moved it.

"I'm sorry," Steve said quietly, looking her right in the eye. "I don't know what happened."

"I know." Mack gave him a weak smile. She fought back a yawn. "It's okay. You're not the only one who's had nightmares like that." She hesitated before adding, "I think you had a nightmare and a flashback, and instinct took over. It's PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder. With the right trigger, like that nightmare…"

"It could happen again." Steve looked grim. He ran a hand through his hair before taking a deep breath. He didn't say anything for a few minutes, and Mack broke the silence herself when she realized Steve wouldn't.

"Have you looked at those files yet?" Mack asked. Maybe confronting what had happened to his comrades after everything would be enough to stop it, to stop the guilt that Steve clearly felt.

Steve shook his head, glancing over at the desk in the corner of the room. Mack had put the files there so that Arizona would not be able to get to them, and Steve hadn't been able to get himself to look through them yet. "Not yet. I can't."

Mack nodded. "They're there when you want them." She sunk into the couch cushions, shooting him a small smile as she closed her eyes. "I'm here if you need me."

"I know," Steve replied. For a few minutes, there was silence.

Steve let his thoughts roam. He had hurt someone who had been trying to help him tonight. For nearly a week, Mackenzie had been going out of her way to try and help him adjust. He knew it would be a long time before he would be okay again.

But somehow, Steve didn't feel as alone as he thought he would.

Mackenzie had checked on him enough times. It hadn't been smothering, she had given him space when he needed it, but she had been there. She had opened up her apartment to him, even though Fury had mentioned the apartment would be ready any day now. Mackenzie had been a rock in this.

And he had hurt her. He hadn't been able to realize he had hurt her.

Steve ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head, wondering if she was going to say anything else.

When he realized she hadn't spoken in a while, Steve glanced over to her, and then frowned. "Mackenzie?"

She didn't answer, and he realized she had fallen asleep on the couch. He glanced over at the turquoise blanket on the leather chair, stood up, and pulled it over her before walking to the bookshelf. He glanced at the books, and then noticed one in particular: a photo album.

Steve looked over at Mackenzie, and pulled it off shelf, curious to see who Mackenzie had been.

He didn't sleep much more that night. Instead, he looked closer at the woman who had been there for him in these past few days, flipping through the photo album. He had met Agent Donahue of SHIELD, had seen her around her coworkers and at SHIELD.

Steve was curious about Mackenzie Donahue herself.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Inspiration came for here when I realized that yes, Mack shares some major personality traits with Bucky. And no, she's not related to Bucky or to anyone from the first movie. She's her own separate character and has no connections to anyone from the movie.

Tori's actually the only character with a connection to one of the Commandos though, but she'll be appearing a few times. Moreau and Tori and Cecelia are major this arc, and you'll find out why in the next few chapters.

Thanks as always for the support, hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you next time!

**Chapter 13** – _Soldiers and Spies_  
She didn't realize until she had reached her office that Steve had called her _Mack_.


	13. Soldiers and Spies

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the lovely response as always, guys! I can't believe that we're already at Chapter 13! There's a lot more bonding in the next few chapters, but soon enough we're going to get to some fun experiences, including a few guest appearances from certain SHIELD agents. We get an appearance of sorts in this chapter as well, even though it's not in person.

Eh. Close enough. We haven't seen him in a while. But he's still alive and while he won't be making another physical appearance for a long time, he's very much a part of Mack's life. You'll understand who I mean when we get to his chapter.

And Moreau once again proves this chapter that while he's absolutely insane, he's also pretty spot on about the things around him. And as always, you'll find out the full story of Australia soon enough. It doesn't come up that much anymore because Mack has moved past a lot of it, but trust me, once she and Steve get closer, it'll come up again.

Thanks for the support as always, my darlings! I can't believe we're at 71 reviews! It's so insane, and I am so grateful to everyone for their support in this. I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I am. As always, I don't own _Avengers_. I only own Mack and Moreau. Please review! :)

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 13** – _Soldiers and Spies_

* * *

**February 25, 2011**

"Your apartment is ready whenever you are, Captain."

Steve looked up sharply at the sound of a slightly familiar voice, nodding respectfully when he saw Director Fury standing in the doorway. Steve had found the gym the first day he had been at SHIELD headquarters, and when he wasn't here, he was in Moreau's office or heading up to Mackenzie's. He felt more comfortable in the gym, and it helped to keep moving.

"Thank you, Director." Steve went back to the punching back.

"Has Agent Donahue been helpful?" Fury asked, watching him carefully.

Steve didn't look back at him as he continued to beat the punching bag.

He was still in shock from what had happened last night. One moment, he had been watching Bucky fall from the train; the next, he had been back in 2011, a knife in his hand and Mackenzie underneath him. Steve knew he was never going to forget the terror he had felt in the instant when he realized what had happened.

He had almost killed her.

He had almost killed Mack.

Steve had almost killed the person who had been making every effort to make sure his readjustment was as bump free as possible. Mack had opened up her apartment, had done everything possible thing to make him more comfortable. And in return, he had almost killed her.

"She has," Steve replied, hoping that the answer was cryptic enough. He also hoped that the guilt on his face wasn't too obvious.

Fury was silent for a few moments. "Doctor Fennman has put in several requests that she be reassigned from your case," Fury noted, watching as Steve's shoulders tensed. "He's convinced that she's persuaded you into not going to your sessions with him."

"Fennman's a bully," Steve snapped. He looked over at, a bit surprised to feel a bit angry that Fennman was attempting to go after Mackenzie again. He didn't know why he felt slightly protective of her, but he wouldn't let Fennman try to bull her around, no matter how much he knew she could fend for herself. "Mackenzie has been going out of her way to help me. Fennman drove me away himself. I don't trust Fennman."

"Do you trust Agent Donahue?" Fury looked slightly interested, but Steve couldn't tell why.

Steve hesitated. He had known her for less than a week, but she had been trying at the least. Steve could appreciate the efforts that she had been making to try and help him. He still felt completely lost, but the loneliness he felt was not as sharp as he thought it would be. Somehow, it was less when he was with her.

Mack hadn't judged him. She had just _been_ there. And frankly, that was all Steve needed right now. He needed someone to be there, and Mack had been doing that.

"I think I can," Steve replied. He looked at Fury before saying, "I know that I'm not going near Fennman again. I can trust Mackenzie, and I'll go to her if I need something."

Fury nodded, and Steve wondered if he had influenced some decision of Fury's in some way. "She'll remain in New York until further notice then. There are a few assignments she can work on while she's here."

There was a part of Steve that felt relieved at the statement, but for the life of him, he could not understand why. Mack would be staying in New York then, but where else would she go? She hadn't mentioned a different assignment.

"Captain Rogers." The Director of SHIELD nodded at the super soldier before he turned away from the door and began to walk away.

"Director." Fury paused in the doorway, turning back to look at Steve. The super soldier hesitated for a second before saying, "I'll move in to the apartment tomorrow."

Fury nodded again as he left, and Steve didn't know why he still felt so guilty.

* * *

Later in Moreau's office, Mack winced as the doctor pulled the wrap off of her wrist, her eyebrows rising as she saw the bruising covering it. "Broken?" she asked tightly. She didn't want to deal with a cast right now, not with everything that was going on.

"Very badly bruised," Moreau corrected, looking at Mack in concern. "Not broken, but sprained. I'm putting a brace on it. No using it too much, no active missions for at least a month."

"Fantastic." Mack scowled, shaking her head as Moreau went over to the cabinets. She took a deep breath before saying, "He has PTSD."

Moreau looked back at her, biting the inside of his cheek as he thought for a few seconds. "He's not going to go to Fennman, we both know that. Will he go to you?"

"After last night… the look on his face after it happened, Moreau?" Mack shook her head. She shuddered slightly as added, "He looked so guilty. I don't know how I can help him. I really don't."

"You're being there for him. That's all you can do." Moreau walked back over, holding up the wrist brace as Mack held up her wrist. She winced as he started to put it on, the contact causing pain to shoot through her arm. "He has to adjust. You can help him, but he has to do part of it on his own."

"I know. I just wish I could do more."

Moreau gave a dark smile. "Now you know how we felt after Australia." Mack shot him a sharp look, and for a few minutes didn't say anything. Moreau, instead, continued, "Watching someone struggle after going through something that dark… and knowing you can't do a thing to help them. There's nothing more painful. Barton was so frustrated. He went through it with Romanoff before, and seeing you go with it… he's very protective of you, Mack. He blamed himself for a lot of Australia."

She never knew that. She had never been aware that Clint had blamed himself for anything that had happened down there. Mack had never blamed him, and made a mental note to bring it up next time they saw each other in person. Mack knew talking about Australia over the phone would be an invitation for bad things to happen.

Mack pulled her hair over her shoulder, biting her lip as she forced herself back to the discussion at hand. "You guys helped. I just needed to get through some of it on my own."

"And so does Steve," Moreau explained gently. He sat down next to her on the examination table as she looked down at the brace on her wrist. "You knew we were here – me, Barton, Romanoff, Coulson… and Steve knows you're there if and when he needs you."

Mack didn't reply, instead thinking through the silence that surrounded them both. "You told Steve about Rome," she finally said. She had been surprised when Steve had mentioned Rome, and was starting to get a little worried about what, exactly, Moreau had told Steve about her past.

"Everyone knows about Rome." Moreau rolled his eyes before adding, "It's something of an urban legend around the office, Kenzie. I think Connor tells it to the interns to terrify them."

Mack chuckled weakly before looking at Moreau. "Did you tell him about Australia?" she asked at last, praying that he didn't know. She didn't know how she would handle him knowing about her then.

Moreau shook his head instantly. "Australia is your story to tell. If you want to tell Steve about what happened down there, it's your choice.

Mack grinned. "You complain about it, but you're a softy at heart, Moreau," she teased, standing up and walking towards the door, shaking her head. She paused as she reached the door, shooting him a soft smile before saying, "Thanks. Softy."

"Don't let it get out," Moreau called as she headed out into the hallway, laughing all the while. "I have a reputation to uphold!"

* * *

"I'm losing my apartment buddy, huh?"

Less than an hour after she had left Moreau's office, Steve looked up as Mack walked into the gym, raising an eyebrow at hr. A small smile played on her fire, and her green-hazel eyes held a spark that reminded him of someone from a long time ago. His attention was immediately taken by the brace on her wrist, and it took him a few moments to look back at her.

"Yeah," Steve replied, his gaze turning back to the wrist after he had watched Mack's face for a few seconds. "Director Fury told me that the apartment is finally ready." He hesitated before asking, "Are you okay?"

"Relax, will you? I'm fine," Mack said. She raised the brace, shaking her head as she explained, "Not broken, just bruised, this is to protect it from anything else. It's all good."

"I'm sorry," he murmured, looking back to the bag. Two quick punches, another jab from the right. He looked back to her before giving a sigh. "I'm moving into the apartment tomorrow. I don't want to risk a repeat of last night."

Mack ran her uninjured hand through her dark hair. "Steve, it's okay-"

"No, it's not." Mack fell silent, surprised at the strength and tone of his voice. Steve held the bag in place, shooting her an almost frustrated look before adding, "It could have gotten a lot worse last night. I had a _knife_ to your throat-"

"Why does everyone forget that I'm a highly trained SHIELD agent?" Mack demanded, waving her hands. She shot him an irritated look. "I'm not a stranger to combat, Steve; I can take care of myself."

She had survived so much worse than last night. She had survived torture and bullets, but she didn't know how Steve couldn't understand that she didn't consider the events of last night that big a deal. Mack had survived last night with a bruised wrist. She had been close to death before, but last night was not one of the experiences that would haunt her. Mack would move past it with no fuss.

Steve, on the other hand, seemed to be more upset by the incident.

"I could have killed you, Mackenzie," Steve snapped, frustration with her leaking into his tone. "It could have been so much worse last night. You were lucky -"

"Seriously, if you don't stop with the martyr act, I will kick your ass, super solder or not," Mack threatened, glaring at him as she took a step forward. She mentally cursed the fact that she was nearly eight inches shorter than him. "It. Is. Fine. Calm down about it, Rogers, and get over it. I'm not dead, you are fine, and there is nothing to keep feeling guilty over."

For a few moments, they both were silent, both just watching each other. Steve nodded briskly before turning his attention back to the punching bag, leaving the two to a bit of an awkward silence. She watched him work for a few minutes before sighing.

"I don't hold it against you," she murmured, watching as he paused and stiffened. "It's okay." She smiled at Steve looked back at her. "Do you need help moving out?"

Steve shook his head, looking relieved that they were moving on. "Thank you, but I don't think I will. I don't have that much." He went over his few possessions in his head. He would just have to carry them over to the new apartment.

Mack nodded. "Fury said it wasn't too far away from mine, so we'll still see each other. I'm still here to help you though. That's my job right now."

"I know, Mackenzie. I'll give you the key to your apartment back-" Steve started, a bit surprised when Mack gave a groan.

"No, you won't." Mack raised an eyebrow at Steve as he started to continue, waiting until he went silent before adding, "If something happens and you need somewhere to go, or you need me, my apartment is always open to you. Got it?"

Steve nodded, realizing that it was probably completely useless to try arguing with her on this point. "Got it."

"I'll come over in a few days to see how you're settling in. You know where my office is, you have my number… you'll be fine." Mack twirled a strand of hair around her finger before shooting him a cheerful smirk. "So, I'll see you in a bit then? Tori's driving me to get Arizona, if you want to come. You're still stuck in my apartment one night"

"I will. Thanks." Steve watched as she turned and walked away, heading towards the door. For a few moments, he watched as she left, wondering if he should say what was on his mind. He sighed before saying, "Mack?"

The brunette turned, raising an eyebrow at the super soldier. Steve shot her a warm smile and said, "Thanks. For everything."

She didn't realize until she had reached her office that Steve had called her _Mack_.

* * *

"So, how's Captain America?"

It was evening, and Mack had spent another day fruitlessly searching for any sign of the traitor in SHIELD. She was desperate, and she needed help, so she went to one of the people she trusted above all in SHIELD. She didn't know why she hadn't gone to him earlier.

That was right, he was currently in an undisclosed location, and this was the first time she had heard from him since January. God knew the next time she would have a chance to talk to him, so she was going to take it while she could.

Mack sighed as she leaned back in her office chair, putting her feet up on her desk. Her eyes went over to Clint's desk automatically, and she gave a wistful half-smile. "That's a bit complicated," she admitted, her thoughts straying to her wrist. "He's moving into the apartment tomorrow though. Fury said it finally got finished."

"Anything else going on?"

Mack paused. Even if she didn't tell him about her wrist, he was going to find out about it one way or another. Moreau might have already told him. "I have a brace on my wrist. It's completely black and blue."

A chuckle came over the phone. "I have a feeling there's a story behind this."

"There is, but it's not important." Mack sighed before glancing down at her wrist. She wondered how much she should tell him, but reminded herself who she was talking to. He could keep it quiet. "He has PTSD, Clint."

Her former SO didn't answer for a few minutes, and Mack wondered if she had lost the connection. "How bad is it?" Clint finally said, his voice slightly scratchy over the phone.

"Nightmares, mostly, but he had a bad flashback last night. He attacked me and bruised my wrist really badly. He didn't realize what he was doing," Mack admitted. Lying to Clint was pretty much useless, and besides, she had called him for a reason. She needed advice about how she was going to handle everything in front of her at the moment.

"You're okay?" Clint asked.

"I'm fine, Hawkeye, I promise," Mack replied, giving a weak smile.

"Shiv…" Mack sighed at the use of her codename, the one he rarely called her unless he was seriously worried. Calling her _Mackenzie_ was one thing, calling her _Shiv_ meant he was actually worried about her.

"I'm fine, Clint," Mack repeated, knowing that Clint was probably frowning or rolling his eyes at her. "I promise, I'm fine." She sighed and tried to change the subject. "How's your new assignment?"

"Boring," Clint replied. She knew that he hadn't dropped the subject completely, but was willing to go along the conversation. "But it's something. Highly classified though, so you can't find out… well, anything."

"Sounds like fun."

"Always. Now are you going to tell me what you're worrying about?" Mack opened her mouth to say something before Clint's voice rang out again, "And don't even try to deny it. I know you far too well."

Mack hesitated before saying, "How do I root out a spy?"

Clint didn't answer for a few minutes. "I'm assuming this is hypothetical," he said, sounding almost amused. Mack didn't believe it for a minute; she recognized the concern in his tone, the surprise, and even a tiny bit of apprehension. "Hypothetical, right, Mack?"

"Hypothetical," Mack confirmed calmly. She knew that Clint would see through the lie in an instant, but wouldn't say anything. He'd give her the information that she asked for, but wouldn't say anything else. She would go to Tasha as well, but she was in Russia with no sign of surfacing until she called Mack.

"Let's go with hypothetical then," Mack murmured after a pause.

Mack had gone to Fury days ago about their suspicions about the spy in SHIELD, and Mack had been given one more assignment on top of tracking down HYDRA and helping Steve adjust to the modern world: track down the HYDRA spy in SHIELD. Mack hadn't tracked down spies before, but she was one. She just had to figure it out.

"I worry about you, you know that?" Clint asked dryly. Mack was sure she heard the eye roll he was giving at that moment. "Hypothetical or not, be careful. I don't want to have to leave her to go save your ass."

"I got myself out of Japan, Spain, and Greece, Barton," Mack protested, shaking her head at the show of little faith. "I can handle this."

"You got out of Greece by the skin of your teeth." Clint's voice took a sterner edge, and Mack recognized the tone that signed her SO was getting much more serious. "HYDRA nearly killed you when you were recruited-"

"And you saved me," Mack interrupted, rolling her eyes.

"And HYDRA nearly killed you again in Greece. You barely got out alive, and spies play a dangerous game. You know that better than anyone." She bit her lip as he continued, "Just be careful. I'm being serious, Mackenzie. Rooting out spies can get you killed easily."

"I know." Mack's voice took its own steely tone as she repeated, "I can handle this, Clint. How do I root out a spy?"

"Set a trap. Wait for mistakes." Clint sighed, and Mack felt relief that he was dropping it for now. Despite her being a full agent, Mack somehow suspected that Clint was never going to stop worrying about her. "Rooting out a spy is a waiting game, Mack. Better get comfortable, and prepare to do what you have to."

Mack nodded slowly, glancing at her laptop screen. Everything they knew about HYDRA at that moment was on her computer, and she knew that this game would only get more complicated. If the spy found out that that SHIELD knew that he existed, Mack knew she would be in danger. Connor and Cecelia would be in danger.

Mack looked out the glass walls that allowed her to see into the hallway. Steve stood there, with Tori, chatting and waiting for Mack to be done. Tori had a car, and would be taking them both to get Arizona and bring him back to the apartment since Mack had given up her car a while ago. Steve would move into his own apartment tomorrow. He had been talking to Tori the last few days, and Mack was grateful that Steve was speaking to someone other than just herself.

At the same time, Mack knew that Steve was beginning to trust her. And on some levels, Mack was starting to trust Steve. She was starting to consider her a friend, and there was nothing that Mack valued above her friend. There was nothing she would not do for her friends.

If this spy had access to him, Steve was in danger.

And Mack would not let anything happen to him. Not now.

"If it means I can protect him, I can wait," Mack murmured into the phone, preparing herself for what she knew was going to be a tough assignment. "Let the games begin."

* * *

**Author's Note:** So yeah, Steve's moving into his apartment, but the trust is starting to build and Mack and Steve are starting to get close! It's progress! Next chapter is another skip of a couple of days, but it'll be a cute chapter.

After that, we get closer to the first main plot. :D Hope you all enjoyed, hope to hear from you soon.

**Chapter 14** – Friend to Friend  
It was at that point that Mack realized that her dog had just made the conscious decision to go to Steve's side instead of her own. Traitorous hound.


	14. Friend to Friend

**Author's Note:** So, two minor time skips again, just so Steve moves into his apartment. These are the definite steps into friendship though, guys! Steve and Mack are pretty much friends at the end of this chapter, and that means we get more development and comfortable moments between the two.

And romance, eventually, but we get hints of attraction first, and then some other fun incidents, and guest appearances… and you'll find out everything in the next few chapters. I'm so insanely excited about it, really. But yeah, now that we've gotten past the getting to know you stages, we're going to start heading into the fun stuff and the sexual tension and OMG I AM SO EXCITED FOR ALL OF IT.

I'm also incredibly touched, because guys? We have 78 reviews right now. I'm amazed at that, because I have never had a story get this many in this short of time. Bohemia is only a month old, and it's doing so well. Thank you all so much for that. :D And thank you to those who have put Bohemia on alert or favorited it. We would not being going into the fourteenth chapter without all of you, so thank you so much!

As always, I don't own Avengers, and I hope that everyone's having a great weekend!

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 14** – _Friend to Friend_

* * *

**March 3, 2011**

It took a while for him to be able to look at the files.

Moving into the apartment hadn't been too hard. Steve had only had about two bags to bring, and had spent the last few days trying to adjust. Along with those attempts to adjust to the new apartment had been nightmares.

He hadn't seen Mack for days. Steve hadn't been back to SHIELD since he had moved to the apartment, but she had sent him a text message checking on him the day before, along with asking if he would be up for her coming to check on him today. After spending about twenty minutes figuring out how to reply (and thanking the fact that Mack had taught him to use the phone the night before he left), he had said yes to both.

For now, Steve went back into his past.

He knew that some of his friends were gone by now. Mack had told him that Morita and Falsworth had passed away since then, as had Phillips and Howard. Morita had died of natural causes in 1999; a heart attack had taken Falsworth in 2002. They both had family members still alive, and Morita's son apparently worked for SHIELD. Steve made a mental note to ask Mack if he had met Morita's son or not.

Dernier still lived in France with his family, but his contact information sat in the file. He would call him later as well.

Jones was a French professor at Culver University down in Virginia. Steve remembered Mack wearing a Culver sweatshirt days before, and that she had been at student there almost three years ago, and made a note to ask whether Mack had ever been a student of him.

Dugan's file didn't tell him anything more than he had expected. Tori had filled Steve in with everything Dugan had been up to over the years, and had explained gently that while her grandfather would have loved to hear from him, Dugan understood that it would take time.

Steve had been glad to hear that the Commandos had kept up with each other over the years, and had been shocked when Tori had explained that she had two brothers – Steve and Jamie. Her mother, Caroline, had grown up on stories of the Howling Commandos, and had named her sons after the men her stepfather had respected above all. Steve knew that Bucky would find that fact hilarious.

Steve wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to that, but he had never been more honored in his life, and asked Tori to tell her mother than the first chance she had.

Morita's son apparently worked at SHIELD as well, but Steve couldn't remember meeting him. Contact information for all the remaining members of the Commandos had been included, and Steve knew he would have to call them sooner or later.

Along with the rest of the Commandos, a few other files had been included – Tony Stark's with his father's and Tori's with Dugan's. Mack had told him a few things about Tony Stark, and Steve had noticed the building with his name on it a while ago; it wasn't too far away from his apartment. Howard had died in a car accident over twenty years ago, but Steve had been amazed upon learning that Howard had never stopped looking for him.

Steve had to remind himself to breathe when he saw Peggy's contact information included her phone number.

For a few minutes, he alternated staring at the phone in his hand and the number on the paper. Peggy's file said that she had never married, and instead had been instrumental in forming SHIELD, alongside Howard and Dugan. SHIELD would not exist without her, and Steve was so proud of her for that. She had done so well.

Steve wanted to hear her voice again so much. His mind flashed back in an instant, to that last conversation they had. He remembered that one last, desperate kiss before he went to stop Schmidt.

But it had been sixty six years since he had went down. Steve knew that Peggy was aware of his survival; Mack had mentioned early on that she had told all his friends from back then that he had survived, and had actually visited Peggy.

He needed time. He couldn't talk to any of them, not yet. It had been so many years, but it had only been weeks for him. For Steve, he had been with them weeks ago. Bucky had died weeks ago; he had crashed the plane weeks ago… he didn't want to force his friends to dig up a past they might not be able to.

Especially Peggy. She deserved so much more than that.

Steve jumped as several quick knocks on his door broke the silence.

"Steve?" The super soldier took a deep breath when he recognized the voice. Dimly, he heard a dog barked, and gave a small smile when she realized that Mack must have brought Arizona. Steve couldn't deny that he was fond of the dog after the days he had spent at her apartment. "Steve, it's Mack. You there?"

"I'll be there in a minute," Steve called back, putting the papers back into the file. He stole one last, long look at Peggy's face before he slipped it back in the file, putting the file itself back into the desk next to the wall.

He went over to the door a moment later. A smile slipped on his face as he saw Mack there, and she grinned back instantly. Steve gave a startled chuckle as Arizona gave an excited bark, standing up on his hind legs and putting his paws on Steve's stomach, his tail going a mile a minute. Steve backed into the apartment, Arizona following him, yelping in excitement all the while.

"Oh my God! Arizona, no!" Mack yelped; her eyes were wide as she stared in a combination of amusement and horror at her dog.

Mack closed the door behind, rolling her eyes. Steve noticed she was carrying a shopping bag. "Arizona! Be nice to Steve! No attacking Steve with love and affection!"

"Mack, it's fine," Steve laughed. He leaned down to the ground, grinning down at the dog as Arizona whined. The dog went down to all four legs, whining happily as Steve rubbed his neck. "Hey, Arizona. I missed you too, buddy."

"I still don't understand how my dog loves you. It doesn't make any sense," Mack said as she watched the two with an amused half smile. She looked around the apartment before smiling slightly. "I like the apartment."

"Thanks." Steve rubbed Arizona's belly as the dog went on his back, shaking his head as he grinned down at him. "How are you?"

Mack paused before looking at him, and Steve caught the hesitation in her eyes. "Fine," she replied after a moment, and for a moment he wondered if she was lying.

Steve shot her a concerned look as he stood to his full height. "You're sure?" he asked.

Mack nodded firmly, and Steve realized he wasn't going to get much more out of her than that. "I'm fine. I promise. I'm more worried about you, honestly. How are you feeling?"

Steve hesitated as he went over to the couch. Mack followed him, Arizona behind her a moment later. The dog went over his owner first, lying down next to her when she sat on the couch. As much as she joked about it, Arizona did love his owner above everything else. Steve sat on the chair on the other side of the living room.

"Better," Steve admitted, trying to figure out exactly how to explain everything. Mack deserved some form of honesty from him. "I'm still getting used to everything, but… I'm getting there. Slowly. It's going to take a lot of time, but I think I can get there."

Mack nodded. "Any more nightmares?" she asked quietly.

"Every night." He was almost surprised that he had admitted it to her, but Mack hadn't judged him for any of it. Steve knew that she wouldn't tell anyone else, and had realized that talking about it might help him. "It's not always the same, but they're nightmares all the same. I don't know when they're going to stop."

Mack nodded, but didn't ask anymore. Her unspoken reassurance that she was there if he needed her was stated in the silence, and Steve took a deep breath before running a hand through his hair. "You said the nightmares get better?" he asked.

"You just have to keep going." Mack bit her lip before adding, "Just give it time. They won't stop completely… but they get easier." She sighed before glancing at her bag, giving him a weak smile as she said, "I have something for you though."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you brought something?" he asked, surprised.

Mack held up the bag with a sheepish smile. "Housewarming present," she explained, watching Steve's eyes widened in surprised. "I would have come sooner, but I couldn't figure out what exactly to get you, but I think you'll like this."

Steve raised an eyebrow at her as he smiled softly, a bit surprised that she had thought of him. "You didn't have to."

"I wanted to," Mack said, looking a bit excited as she passed Steve the bag. "I think you'll like it."

Steve chuckled. "I appreciate it." He paused when he saw what in the bag, his eyes widening as he realized exactly what it was. He pulled it out of the shopping bag, staring at it in surprised before looking back up at Mack.

It was a sketchbook. It was simple and its cover was black, but there were numerous designs on the front – including, Steve realized, a star identical to the one that had covered his shield. Mack was the only one who knew about his drawings so far. She had seen him drawing Arizona that first night, but he hadn't gotten a chance since then to draw and let everything but what was in front of him go. Maybe now he would have a chance.

"Thank you," Steve murmured, looking down at the sketchbook. A further search through the bag found color pencils and a supply he knew would last for a while. He looked back up at her, a little stunned that she would have thought of all of that. "Mack, I don't know what to say."

Mack shrugged, rolling her eyes as Arizona trotted over to Steve, settling down with his head on the man's foot. "You're really good," Mack said, smiling, pausing for a moment before adding, "If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to keep that sketch of Arizona."

"It's yours," Steve said, trying to split his attention between Arizona and Mack. The dog seemed determined to take all of it, however. He chuckled as Arizona licked his hand, adding, "I wouldn't mind getting another chance to sketch him though."

"Of course," Mack replied, putting her hands in the air.

"You don't know what this means to me." Steve looked up at her, his eyes serious as he said, "Drawing as always let me unwind, and I think this might really help with everything. Thanks, Mack."

Steve had seen a lot of Mack in the past few weeks. He had seen her mischievous smirks when she pressed Moreau's buttons. He had seen her teasing grins from when she had hummed the songs from his shows in the 40s to make him blush, the tight, hard smiles that came when she was getting angry.

But the soft, small smile that crossed her face right then made Steve realize how pretty Mack Donahue actually was.

"Anytime." Mack looked almost uncomfortable for a moment before she stood. "They went all out on the 40s feel, didn't he?" She took a step into the kitchen, glancing around. "I honestly thought Fury might have been lying about an apartment and was planning to keep you in mine for as long as we didn't kill each other."

He chuckled. "I like it," Steve said. He turned his attention back to the SHIELD agent before admitting, a nostalgic look on his face, "It reminds me of the apartment I used to share with Bucky, before… before, well, everything."

Mack gave a sympathetic nod, raising an eyebrow as Arizona sat at Steve's side. It was at that point that Mack realized her dog had just made the conscious decision to go to Steve's side instead of her own. Traitorous hound.

"You're abandoning me for him, aren't you?" she asked her dog, rolling her eyes as he yawned and leaned against Steve. "Traitorous hound."

Steve gave a harder laugh, rubbing the top of his head. "Don't listen to her, Arizona. You can always come with me if you get tired of Mack."

The SHIELD agent looked halfway between horrified and amused. "You're talking to my dog. Now we know you're spending too much time with me." She was giggling though, and Steve only rolled his eyes.

Steve didn't know what else he could do other than play along. "What can I say? Arizona is great company. He doesn't talk back-"

"Bullshit he doesn't talk back," Mack laughed, rolling her eyes. "He barks when I try and tell him something. He totally talks back."

Steve shook his head. "It doesn't count."

"It so does, Rogers." Mack stood, taking her dog's leash before saying, "I was taking him for a walk, and then I was going to stop at the diner for something. Do you want to come?"

Steve hesitated for a second before nodding. "I'd love to." He grinned down at the dog before turning his grin to Mack. "Let's go."

She grinned back at him, and Steve realized that he might not be alone in this time.

* * *

**March 12, 2011**

"I thought Moreau put you on medical leave from any physical activity."

Mack grinned as she kept going at the punching bag that Steve usually claimed. The gym was empty for a change, except for her and the new arrival. "Moreau said I can go back to working out now. If Barton comes back and finds out I've been slacking, I'll never hear the end of it."

Steve chuckled as he dropped his bag on the ground, coming around and holding the bag in place as Mack went at it. "It looks better," he admitted, glancing down at her wrist. The bruises had almost complete faded, and relief crept down his back as he saw she hadn't suffered any other ill effects from the incident.

"Feels a lot better, too," Mack added, as she launched herself into a high kick at the punching bag. She shot Steve a grin as he raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Remember, Rogers; fully trained SHIELD agent. I know how to fight."

He had learned that by now, of course. Steve and Mack had spent a lot of the past week together, when he wasn't in the history tutoring sessions Fury had organized and when Mack wasn't working in her office. She was comfortable in her body, and the way that she moved just told Steve that she was dangerous. Steve was comfortable with her, and that was really all he needed right now.

Mack paused as she looked over at the boxing ring, grinning over at Steve a moment later. He knew immediately what she meant, and he groaned when he recognized the look on her face. He hadn't known her for a long time, but he knew when that look came over her face there was no way he was going to get her to back down.

"No. That is a horrible idea." Mack was already sliding into the boxing room, and Steve sighed. "You're just ignoring everything I say, aren't you?"

"What's the worst that can happen?" Mack asked, staring at him. The spark in her eyes – the wild, reckless, free spark that reminded him almost too much of Bucky – told him that she was not going to let this go.

Steve sighed before following her into the ring. "This is a horrible idea," he repeated.

"I've had Natasha go full Black Widow on me before, Steve." She pulled her loose dark hair into a tight ponytail before adding, "Trust me. I can handle this."

She moved almost before he realized, in a surprisingly strong kick that nearly knocked him off balance. Steve blocked it on instinct, and she dodged as he threw a punch. He realized he had left her an opening the moment her elbow hit his gut, knocking him back a step. Mack took a step back as well, her ponytail looser and her grin just as radiant.

"You're quick," Steve noted. The smile on his face was natural, and he was surprised that sparring with her was almost fun. She was different than any other opponent he had met, but that was just fine with him.

Mack grinned, panting a bit as she added, "Strength hurts, but speed kills. Romanoff drilled that into me."

"Am I going to meet her and Barton someday?" Steve wondered, the two circling each other a bit in the ring. "You talk about them both a lot."

"They turned me into what I am today, Rogers," Mack explained, tightening her ponytail again. Steve was beginning to realize why she usually wore it down; it never stayed in a ponytail too long. She was always on the move.

"They didn't do a bad job," Steve murmured, and realized even he didn't realize exactly what they were

This time, he made the first move, and the two were sparring again moment later.

It only took Steve a few minutes to recognize the flaws in her fighting style. Her speed gave her a strong advantage, but left openings that he could exploit. Her speed came at the cost of some endurance; if a fought took long enough, exhaustion would give her more disadvantages. While the bruises had mostly faded, it was causing her wrist some trouble.

She moved constantly, and Steve realized that was her biggest disadvantage in her fighting style – she would exhaust herself out, and would forget to defend herself if a fight went on long enough.

Remembering that weakness in her style, Steve kicked out the first opportunity that he found. The kick caught her knee, knocking her onto her back onto the ground. She looked genuinely surprised, and Steve felt a bit of satisfaction creep up into him.

Mack breathed heavily on the ground for a few moments, staring up in surprise at him. A grin crossed her face after a few moments, and Steve knew a similar one had hit his face. Steve had started to trust her before this, but it was mutual respect that came now.

It was in that moment that Steve realized he _wasn't_ alone in this time.

"Not bad, Captain Rogers," Mack said, the teasing light in her eyes reminding him so much of Bucky it was almost painful.

Steve chuckled as he held out his hand. Mack took it in an instant, letting him pull her back off the ground. "You're not too bad yourself, Agent Donahue," he replied, grinning down at her. "Round two?"

Mack's grin only widened as she readjusted her ponytail. "You know it."

* * *

**March 17, 2011**

They were at the diner when Mack realized it.

It had become their tradition over the past few days. After their spar in the gym at SHIELD a few days ago, Steve had been joining Mack and Arizona on their morning runs, followed by going to get breakfast at the diner directly after. They would meet up for lunch in SHIELD's cafeteria before going back down to the gym, and Mack realized that yes, she and Steve were definitely friends at this point in time.

That morning in particular had been a fun jog, with them racing for the second half and Mack nearly collapsing against him in laughter once they reached the diner. They had still been laughing a half an hour later, and it was when Steve grinned at her that it hit her with the force of a train.

It wasn't the first time he had smiled at her. She had long ago thought that Steve had a pretty smile, but this was something different, and when she realized exactly what it was, her heart almost stopped. She could not go through that again.

With a jolt she could have compared to being struck by lightning, Mack realized that she was attracted to Steve and that her life had just gotten a lot more complicated.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well, Mack, fantastic time for you to realize the obvious. From here, things are going to get a bit more fun, because Mack's attracted to Steve and there are definite hints he's attracted to her. This is where I laugh evilly.

Next chapter is the set up for the first independent plot line the two go through, so that'll be a fun one. Just have to get through that set up and then it'll be fun. Thanks for always for the reviews, guys, I can't believe we're at 78! Thanks as always, I hope everyone's having a great weekend, and I hope to hear from you all soon!

**Chapter 15** – _Memories in Photographs_  
This however, was the first true bit of hesitation she had given him, and Steve realized that Mack was trying to figure out a way not to hurt him.


	15. Memories in Photographs

**Author's Note:** Thanks as always for the support! I can't believe we're at 83 reviews… my mind is completely blown, especially because I have never had a story get this much support so quickly. I appreciate it so much. I love writing this story, it's honestly a highlight of my day when I get to sit down and keep going forward.

Because honestly? I'm amazed we got this far. Next chapter is the start of the first major independent storyline the two go through, and trust me, it's a fun one. We just have to get through this one, and the fluffiness that is contained next chapter. I'm sorry. I tried to stop it from being too fluffy, but it's her birthday and Steve was a sweetheart and you'll find out next time.

Oh, and there's a very minor shout out in here. If anyone catches it, they get a spoiler, but it's to a Marvel character that is connected to Captain America. Hopefully that's a good enough hint. It also came up in an earlier chapter in connection to Ward, if that helps. You might have to go back for it. ;)

As always, I don't own _Avengers_, only Mack, Tori, and Moreau. Who I do love. They're hilarious. Thanks as always for the support, and please review!

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 15** – _Memories in Photographs_

* * *

**March 22, 2011**

"Hey."

Steve had been working away at the punching bag for the last hour, a bit surprised when Mack hadn't shown up after thirty minutes. Despite the small seed of worry in the back of his mind, he hadn't thought of it too much. She still had a job to do, and she always showed up eventually.

He looked up at the voice, and shot a warm smile towards Mack as she walked into the gym. Steve glanced at her outfit – jeans, a leather jacket, and a shirt – before shooting her a teasing smile. "You're not working out today?"

"I have a meeting with Fury." Mack scowled for a few seconds before rolling her eyes. "It's not about you. He's been keeping his eye on you and knows you've been doing fine, my meeting with him is about something else."

"Everything okay?" Steve asked, frowning slightly at her. She looked different today; the way she stood, the tightness in her back… it took a few seconds for Steve to realize that Mack was angry.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Mack gave him a weak smile, and Steve wished he knew how to tell if she was lying. "Nothing that I can't handle at least."

Steve nodded slowly. "Something's wrong though."

Mack hesitated, and Steve knew something was wrong. She had hesitated before, but in small ways, if she wanted to say something right or didn't know what to say. This however, was the first true bit of hesitation she had given him, and Steve realized that Mack was trying to figure out a way not to hurt him.

"They finished going through the HYDRA plane," Mack finally said. She pulled something out of her pocket. Steve paused instantly, turning to stare at Mack. "They found something, not far away from where we found you."

Steve realized what it was as Mack handed him a compass. He stared down at it a few seconds, nearly jumping at the familiar weight returning to his palm. He opened it, surprised that his body wasn't shaking. Inside of it, sure enough, was the aged but still recognizable photo of Peggy Carter.

Mack just watched him, carefully, sympathy in her eyes. The last few days had been a bit hard, because she had realized that yes, she was very attracted to Steve Rogers, and hadn't felt this attracted to a guy for a long time. There was an attraction with Grant; of course, their friends with benefits relationship wouldn't work without it.

But the last time she had felt this strong an attraction with a guy, Mack had nearly lost everything. She would not go through that again. Never again.

In her mind, she knew that they were insanely different. But she didn't want to risk it again. And besides; Steve deserved someone so much better than her. And if he found out that she was investigating HYDRA and using him to lure them in… he would never forgive her.

Frankly, Mack didn't know if she was going to forgive herself for using him like that.

"Mack, thank you," Steve whispered, and Mack could see the heartbreak on his face.

Mack nodded solemnly, and Steve realized that it wasn't Mack in front of him; it was Agent Donahue of SHIELD. "I'll see you later, okay?" she murmured. She squeezed his arm before she walked away, not looking back.

Steve nodded as he stared down at the picture. By the time he looked back up, Mack was gone, and Steve realized he felt alone again, even if only a bit.

* * *

"Figuring out who this spy is… that's a top priority, Agent Donahue."

As she sat in Fury's office not much later, the frustration Mack had hidden around Steve showed up full force. Both she and Fury were frustrated with the situation; they had been investigating for a month, and had found nothing that could lead them to whoever this spy could be.

Mack had no doubt that he or she existed. Connor had found several more messages in the time since then, and had been combing through records carefully for any other sign. Cecelia had been keeping her ears open, but linguistics was probably the worst place to hide a spy.

Mack already had suspicions that the spy had access to Steve, which meant the pool was smaller but all the more dangerous. Steve was starting to trust the people around him; he already trusted her, and Mack knew that he was near to trusting Moreau and Tori, the ones he was with most often besides Mack.

She knew that there was no way Moreau and Tori were spies; Tori's husband was a SHIELD agent who was trained to find spies and Moreau was… well, Moreau was Moreau. He acted like an idiot, but the man was insanely loyal to SHIELD.

But that left her at a loss of who it could be.

"We have no access to HYDRA, Agent Donahue," Fury pointed out. "No prisoners, no spies inside of it… at the moment, we are completely blind.

Mack thought for a few minutes. "What about the man who tried to kill me, back when Barton was recruiting me?" she asked.

She wouldn't mind rubbing it in his face that the scared girl who he had tried to kill had been turned into a SHIELD agent. Mack could appreciate a bit of irony, and she would love the look on the man's face when he realized how terribly his assassination attempt had backfired.

"Barton took him alive, didn't he?" Mack asked, trying to remember back that far. It felt like a lifetime ago, but it had been less than three years ago. She was sure that Barton had taken the man alive however.

"Barton never told you?" Fury turned back to her, his face calm as always. Mack caught the edge of surprise on it. "The agent who attempted to take you out before you could join SHIELD took his cyanide tablet within an hour of his capture. We never got anything out of him. We still don't know how they found out about your recruitment."

Mack stilled for a few seconds, emotionless on the outside but surprised on the inside. Clint had never told her that. "Setting a trap would be great if we knew what they would fall for," she muttered. She paused before asking, "Director Fury, would you mind if I asked a personal question?"

Fury rolled his eyes. "Oh, this should be good."

"Why was I recruited for SHIELD?" she asked at last, leaning back in her seat.

She had always wondered. Mack knew that it was one of the best things that could have happened to her. No matter how much pain (physical, emotional, mental) that SHIELD put her through, she would never regret taking the plunge and the chance that Clint Barton had offered her down in Virginia.

Mack had gained so much from her time in SHIELD. She was so much stronger than she had been down there, and could protect the people she cared about. Mack knew that people had her back, and she had yet to find a feeling greater than the one she had on a mission when she knew Barton or Romanoff or Ward had her back, and that she had theirs in return.

But there had always been that thought of why.

"This does not leave the room, Donahue," Fury said after a moment, shooting her a significant look.

"Understood." Mack was excited for a few moments, but there was also an element of apprehension. She had always wanted to know this, but now that she had the actual chance, there was an edge of nerves to her.

Fury watched her carefully for a few moments. "We kept an eye on you throughout your last year of college," he said, and Mack was surprised that Fury was giving her a straight answer. "Once you graduated from Culver, Gabe Jones recommended you to us formally."

Mack raised an eyebrow; Professor Jones had been her French professor for one semester in her senior year of college. She had liked him well enough, but she didn't know why that had caused him to recommend her for SHIELD. "There's more of the story, isn't there?"

Fury raised his eyebrow at her. "Donahue, you reminded him of Peggy Carter."

Mack went silent, staring up at him in surprise. She had looked up to Peggy Carter since she had joined SHIELD, and had admired her even more after their talk over a month ago about Steve. She had talked to Peggy twice since then, to give her updates about how Steve was adjusting, but for someone who had known Peggy to think she was like her…

"What?" Mack asked, cursing her ungraceful answer.

"You reminded Gabe Jones of Peggy Carter," Fury repeated, and Mack could practically see Fury's guess at her intelligence dropping. "The drive to succeed, the fierce loyalty, and the cunning… I trust Gabe Jones, Donahue, and after we looked at you more, we knew you were a chance."

"And so SHIELD took that chance." Mack bit her lip.

"_Barton_ took that chance." Mack raised an eyebrow as Fury continued, "We sent Barton in about a month before he made contact with you. He observed you, and believed that you would make a strong agent. His recommendation, along with Gabe Jones', is what brought you into SHIELD."

Mack nodded slowly, before taking a deep breath. "I don't want to tell Captain Rogers that I'm investigating HYDRA yet." She had to change the subject. She was not going to get emotional over the fact that one of the Howling Commandos and Barton had been responsible for getting her into SHIELD.

She made a point though to go down and see Gabe Jones eventually. She could bring Steve with her.

Fury watched her. "Captain Rogers knows that HYDRA is alive, Donahue. He won't be happy when he finds out you've been keeping it from him."

"The only ones who know I'm investigating HYDRA are Cecelia and Connor." Mack ran a hand through her dark hair before adding, "Steve knows HYDRA tried to kill me when I was recruited, and that I confirmed their revival in Greece. He doesn't know I'm investigating them still."

"He has to have a suspicion that he's a target," Fury pointed out. He sat down at his desk, and Mack could almost see the gears shifting in his mind. "You're sure he doesn't know about your investigation?"

"No, he doesn't." Mack bit her lip before leaning forward. "And he's not going to."

Fury nodded. "That's your choice, Donahue."

"I'm aware, sir."

Fury watched her carefully, and Mack remained still while he studied her. "Doctor Fennman has been complaining that Captain Rogers hasn't returned for a single session."

"Steve trusts his gut," Mack replied, her mind on the defensive immediately. Steve had made excellent progress in the past few months, and Mack knew that all they needed was one bad session for Fennman for all of the progress to be undone. "And his gut tells him not to trust Fennman."

Fury scowled at her. "Donahue, he needs to talk to someone."

Mack's defensive strategy was slowly being overrun by her protective instincts. She was not going to let Fennman anywhere near Steve. "I've been talking to him. I'm a psychology graduate, Director Fury, and I can handle it."

Fury was silent for a few long minutes, and Mack stared at him calmly in return. "Donahue, I'm going to trust you here to take care of Captain Rogers. He's been through a lot, and I do trust his judgment and yours." He sighed. "This spy is after him, Donahue. We both know that's his endgame. I trust you to keep an eye on him."

"I appreciate it, sir," Mack replied, relief flooding in her. She wouldn't have to deal with Fennman, and the psychiatrist didn't have any more opportunity to get near Steve. Mack knew Fury was right; Steve was the end target. "And I'll protect him with my life."

* * *

"Mack looked pretty angry today."

Tori frowned over at Steve from the opposite side of the room. "What makes you say that?" she asked curiously. She typed away at her laptop; according to Moreau, she was talking to her new husband, Sam, who had been sent back on a mission within hours of returning from their honeymoon. He hadn't been back yet, and it was obvious how worried Tori was about him.

"I don't know," Steve admitted. "It was just a gut feeling."

"Well, are we talking actually angry or just frustrated?" Moreau asked. Steve hadn't bothered to ask what he was doing, but Moreau was frowning away at something on his computer screen. "Because there's a difference when Mack's frustrated and when she's pissed."

Steve hesitated. "I think it was more frustrated. I haven't seen her actually angry yet."

"Count yourself lucky. Mack has a temper," Tori chuckled. She ran a hand through her short copper hair before adding, "But she's just frustrated. I saw her in the elevator earlier."

Moreau shook his head. "Few things piss her off, Steve. Being used against people is one of them." He cackled as something clearly came back to his mind. "An idiot had the bright idea to use her against Barton and Romanoff in…" He frowned before looking at Tori. "When was that? It was like last year…"

"San Francisco, I think," Tori murmured, not looking up from her laptop. "I just remember her coming back and ranting, honestly. And Barton and Romanoff weren't very happy either."

"An idiot had the bright idea to try and use her as a hostage against Barton and Romanoff in San Francisco," Moreau corrected himself without a beat, turning back to Steve in an instant. "Well, considering Barton is protective of her in the first place and Natasha only shows affection towards Barton or Mack…"

"Don't tease the man, idiot, just tell him what happened," Tori snapped, sounding increasingly irritated as she threw a balled up towel over at Moreau's head.

Moreau dodged it easily, his smirk growing as he said, "When the idiot grabbed Mack, she proceeded to break his collarbone, a shoulder blade, and four ribs before Barton and Romanoff even realized she was a target. Our Kenzie was not happy."

Tori rolled her eyes. "To say the least. Nat and I ended up listening to her rant for about an hour after she got back."

The doctor frowned. "I thought you and Romanoff didn't like each other."

Tori shot Moreau a glare, her eyebrow rising dangerously. "Because you know so much how women work, Moreau." She rolled her eyes before looking back at Steve. "Agent Romanoff and I get along fine, actually. We have Mack in common, and Mack acts too much like Barton for either of us to stop worrying."

She paused before adding, "And you're mixing our group up again. _Connor_ doesn't like Romanoff."

Moreau scowled when he realized she was right. Steve frowned as he watched the banter between the two, leaning back in his chair. "They mean a lot to her," Steve finally said, thinking on what he had heard. "Agents Barton and Romanoff I mean. She cares about them a lot."

Moreau chuckled. "The people she cares about mean _everything_ to her."

Steve raised an eyebrow. That certainly sounded familiar.

"Speaking as someone who cares about her, we need to figure out what we're going to do," Tori noted, closing her laptop as she looked between Moreau and Steve.

Both frowned at her, confused, and Tori groaned before glaring over at the doctor. "I'm the only one who remembered again. Steve has an excuse not to know, but you so don't. March 25th, Moreau. What is March 25th?"

Moreau frowned, looking confused for a few moments. "Is this a trick question?"

Tori just stared at him for a few minutes. "You're an idiot." She looked at Steve before saying, "March 25th is Mack's birthday, and she turns twenty-five. She always forgets because she's insanely busy, but she's here this year and it doesn't look like Fury's going to send her anywhere."

Steve frowned as his mind raced. Mack hadn't mentioned anything about her birthday, but he had an idea of what he could do for her. She probably would protest it, but he didn't care; she had done a lot for him over the last few weeks, he could do something for her.

He hadn't realized she was that young, though. Steve hadn't put a lot of thought into it, but he had thought she was a bit older than she really was. With or without the sixty six years he had spent in ice, Steve was older than Mack. He was less than two years older than her – without the years on ice, at least.

"She's been working a lot lately, right?" Steve asked, trying to think of something.

"She's been working without stop since they found you in the ice. Why?" Tori asked, turning her attention to Steve with a curious frown. He saw the look on her face, curious and almost smug in a way, but ignored it, along with the fact that she reminded him almost too much of Dugan in that instant.

"I have a key to her apartment," Steve said, leaning forward. He closed the sketchbook in his hand, smiling slightly down at it. "I can go in on the 25th, turn off her alarm, and then get her to relax for the day."

"We can have dinner at the diner for the end of it. I can talk to Sonya about it," Tori murmured, grinning as she whirled in her swirly chair. "Get her to have a movie day. She loves to have movie days, but she hasn't had a chance to in months. And she's mentioned she can't wait for you to see some movies…"

"She keeps telling me that she's forcing me to watch _Star Wars_ eventually," Steve admitted, wondering if this was the best idea.

Steve realized then he had the perfect idea for her present, and getting into her apartment earlier would make it all the easier. He smiled slightly, and just hoped that he knew what he was doing.

In the back of his mind though, Steve wondered what exactly was frustrating Mack.

* * *

**March 23, 2011**

"Hello?" Mack murmured, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. It was the middle of the night, and she had no idea of who could be calling this hour. She realized then that someone wouldn't call her this late unless something was terribly wrong.

"Mack?"

Mack was awake instantly as she recognized the voice, frowning as she saw on her clock that it was two in the morning. "Steve, what's wrong?" she asked, recognizing the tone in his voice instantly.

"Look, I'm sorry, the timing is really bad, but there was another flashback. It was bad. I… I don't want to be alone right now." Her heart broken when she heard the fear in his voice, and she knew there was no way she was going to leave him alone right now.

"Do you want me to come over?" Mack asked, slipping out of bed. She turned the light on, blinking furiously as she tried to adjust to the lighting.

"I'm already on my way to your apartment," Steve replied. "I have my key, I just… Mack, I can't be alone right now."

She nodded instantly, realizing a second later that Steve wasn't going to be able to see her nodding over the phone. "I get it, don't worry. Just come over and let yourself in. I'll see you in a bit."

Mack hung up her phone, biting her lip as she went into the kitchen, unlocking her front door on her way through. She immediately went to making the hot chocolate. That was what she had done every other time she had found him in the living room during the week he had stayed with her.

She had managed to put it into two mugs (her _Doctor Who_ mug for her and the _Captain America_ mug she had found and gotten for Steve as a joke for him) by the time that he knocked on the door and entered. Mack froze when she saw the look on his face, and he didn't say anything as he went into the living room, sitting down next to Arizona. He buried his face in his hands a minute later.

To his credit, the dog seemed to realize that something was wrong with Steve. He gave a soft, pleased whine as he set his head on Steve's leg, and nudged his arm with his nose. Mack gave a soft smile. Her dog was smarter than everyone gave him credit for.

She took the two mugs and sat across from Steve. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"No," Steve admitted, and Mack was almost relieved he had given her a straight answer right away. No, not almost. She _was_ relieved, because he was opening up to her.

Mack took a sip of her hot chocolate. "What was it?" she asked,

"…the crash." Steve took a deep breath before raising his head, looking back at her. She realized then there were tears at the edge of his eyes. "It was a flashback to when I crashed the plane into the ocean… I think getting Peggy's photo back might have triggered it, and there was a nightmare… and I don't even _know_, Mack."

Mack bit her lip. Steve still had nightmares, but he had had two flashbacks since that first one, neither as major as the first or this newest one. Steve had handled them both on his own, and had only mentioned them to Mack after they had actually happened. She was worried about him, but knew he was trying to get through it on his own.

"You said you've talked to Peggy," Steve said, watching her.

Mack nodded. "I've been keeping her updated about how you're doing," she said. Steve knew that. He hadn't been able to talk to any of the Commandos yet, but he knew he had to do so soon. "She's worried about her."

"She's happy?" he asked, his voice breaking a bit.

"She is," Mack murmured. She gave a sad smile as she added, "She keeps asking me if you're happy… I tell her you're getting there."

Steve nodded slowly, a bit distracted. "Is this ever going to get better?" His voice was almost defeated. "The nightmares, the flashbacks… are they ever going to stop?"

"It takes time." Mack brought her legs up, pulling her arms around them. For a few moments, she debated to continue, but finally decided to. Steve deserved to know that it did get better. "After Australia… it took a long time to get past the nightmares. They finally got under control in December. It takes time… but it gets better, Steve."

Steve nodded, and the two were just silent for a bit. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Rather, it was the exact opposite. They had become close enough now that not saying anything was enough for both. Steve didn't want to be alone, and Mack wanted to help him. She was doing enough for him by just being there, and Steve knew she would never realize how much he appreciated this.

One thing, however, still weighed on his mind.

"You keep mentioning Australia," Steve noted, watching as her green eyes went almost blank. He recognized it as the normal reaction when it came up, and though he still had no idea about what had happened there to her, he knew it couldn't be anything good.

Mack nodded briskly. "We both have scars, Steve. I don't like to talk about mine."

"You've been here a lot for me, but you know I'm here for you, right?" Steve asked her. He leaned back against the couch, looking a bit calmer. "Friendship is a two way street, Mack."

"I know, and I appreciate it." Mack shot him a weak smile, but he noticed the walls behind her eyes. He wasn't going to learn anything about Australia tonight. "But I don't want to talk about Australia."

"And I'll respect you for that," Steve replied, raising his hands in surrender. He lowered them a second later, rubbing Arizona's back as he said, "Just… I'm here if you need me. You've been stressed lately. I know I haven't known you a long time, but it's kind of obvious."

"I'm a SHIELD agent, Steve," Mack reminded him, wondering how it turned into a night of her trying to help him into him trying to get her to open up. "I learned a long time ago that stress came with the job."

Steve nodded, but Mack knew he would bring this up again eventually. She knew that someday, she might have to tell him exactly what happened in Australia. But for now, she didn't want for him to know what had broken her down there. She didn't want Steve to look at her differently.

Mack bit her lip. "If I want to talk about it, you'll be the first I go to," she told him, shooting him a stronger smile.

Steve smiled back, and then ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry about the coming over this early," he said, pausing when Mack shot him a glare. "Is this where you're going to tell me I'm apologizing too much?"

Mack grinned cheerfully at him. "You're learning, Rogers."

He only rolled his eyes in response.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Oh my God, they're being adorable now. They need to stop being adorable. But yeah, this chapter is full of foreshadowing of how pissed Steve's going to be when he finds out that Mack's been hiding a few things from him. Hehehehehe. It'll be a while until we get there, but that section is already written.

Pissed off Steve is kinda fun to write. XD

Thanks as always for the support, and I hope you enjoyed this round! Next update should be tomorrow night or Tuesday – I don't have classes on Tuesday, so that should be the latest an update should come up. Thanks as always, everyone, and hope to hear from you soon!

**Chapter 16** – _Twenty Five Years  
_Steve looked at Mack, and realized from the look in her eyes that this was much worse than either of the two were letting on.


	16. Twenty Five Years

**Author's Note:** Guys, we hit 88 last reviews last time. I am in shock. We are so close to getting to 100, and this has never happened to me before this quickly. I'm thrilled that you guys are enjoying the story, because things are going to get more interesting starting from this chapter.

Let the speculation begin as to what's going on between these two and how long it's going to take, because the feelings are starting to spark between these two. I'm so excited that we're getting to these chapters, because now they're friends, and from friendship we got into whole new territory.

As always, I don't own _Avengers_ and the associated acts. I do own Mack and a few other original characters that appear here, and I own the plotline we're going into. I'm very excited about this plotline, so hope you all will enjoy it as much as I do.

Thanks as always for the support, and I hope to hear from you in this chapter! :D

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 16** – _Twenty Five Years_

* * *

**March 23, 2011**

For once, Mack woke up before him.

She closed her eyes as sunlight blinded her, and she sat up, shielding herself with her arm. She looked around and paused when she saw Steve on the opposite couch, fast asleep. Arizona was lying next to the couch, and Steve's hand was on top of Arizona's back. She had never seen Steve looking that peaceful, and she was amazed that he had stayed asleep after he had gotten here.

Mack chuckled quietly before leaning back in her chair, watching him carefully.

She was in so much trouble. Mack knew that it was just a stupid crush. Mack had had stupid crushes before. For crying out loud, she had a crush on Clint for the first six months of her training. That part of her telling her that no, whatever she felt for Steve was more than a crush was ignored completely. She was not falling in love again.

But something about this was different. Steve was a friend, and he had been concerned about her over the past few days as it became more and more obvious that Mack hadn't been taking care of herself. He had smiled at her and made jokes with her, he had kept an eye on her.

Mack went back to nearly a month ago. Steve had pushed her behind him when he had heard the car backfire. He had thought it was a bullet, and his first instinct had been to protect her. She didn't know what to think of that.

Peggy Carter had told her that Steve would be a friend for life if she got his trust. Mack was confident that, yes, the two did trust each other and that yes, she and Steve Rogers were friends. He was a good friend, Mack would even dare to call him. And she was betraying him every second that she spent with him.

She also knew that eventually, Steve's trust in her would break. As soon as he found out about what had happened in Australia, what had happened with Nathan, he would not be able to look at her again.

That wasn't even the worst of it. Once Steve found out that she was using him as bait to lure HYDRA in… God, she didn't want to think about that. She knew it was a betrayal, and the guilt of it was destroying her inside, but Mack had to take them down.

She was an agent of SHIELD. She would do what she had to.

A stupid crush was not in the plan.

Falling for Captain America - falling for _Steve_ - was not in Mack's plan.

* * *

**March 24, 2011**

"I need your help."

Steve had waited until Moreau had run off to a lab on another floor to talk to Tori. While he would call himself friends with Moreau now, Tori and Mack were the ones he went to now when he wanted to have a serious talk. Considering the fact that the topic he wanted to discuss _was_ Mack, Steve couldn't go to her at the moment.

"Shoot," Tori replied. She was sitting at her desk in the room again, typing away on her laptop. Her glasses were on, and she raised an eyebrow as Steve sat across from her.

"I have an idea what to get Mack for her birthday." Tori raised an eyebrow as an almost mad grin crossed her face. Steve frowned when he saw the look in her eyes. "Why are you grinning like that?" Steve demanded suspiciously, watching her carefully.

For a few moments, she had looked almost scarily like Dugan. Steve reminded himself that the two weren't blood relatives, but for those few moments, Steve had nearly jumped. He had to see Dugan eventually, and Gabe and Dernier… and Peggy. But not right now. He didn't feel ready yet, but he knew it was going to be a matter of time. He wanted to see them, more than anything, wanted to be sure that they had had good lives. They were still his friends, no matter what had happened.

"No reason," Tori denied, shaking her head as she smirked over at Steve. He didn't need to know her well at long to figure out that she was lying to him, but he was going to drop it for now. He didn't want to get into it with Tori today. "Now, what was your idea for her present?"

"You're not telling me something," Steve murmured, watching Tori suspiciously.

Tori rolled her eyes, and again looked impossibly like her stepgrandfather. "You'll figure it out eventually."

Steve waited for a few minutes, trying to figure out what exactly Tori had been talking about before he decided to ignore it. "I need you to come with me to get it. You know her better than I do… but I think I have an idea."

Tori grinned cheerfully before saying, "Oh, this will be fun."

* * *

**March 25, 2011**

Steve snuck into her apartment at around four in the morning, unlocking the door with his key as he tried to balance his sketchbook and pencils in the other hand. He chuckled as Arizona rushed into the doorway, surprisingly not barking to announce his presence. Steve leaned down, rubbing Arizona's neck as he grinned at him.

"Hey, buddy," Steve whispered, glancing towards the hallway. Mack's bedroom was wide open. "We're going to be really quiet so we don't wake up Mack, okay?"

Arizona whined softly, nudging Steve's knees as the man snuck into Mack's room. He paused when he saw her. She was fast asleep, and he realized then how small she was, physically at least. Her personality was huge and excitable, and she had been such a big presence in his life for a while that he was only reminded now that she was so much smaller than she acted sometimes.

Her dark hair was messy and loose among the pillows, and she was on her side, her breathing even and calm. Steve realized then that she wasn't just a smaller than she normally looked – she looked more at peace too.

He realized right about then how creepy watching her sleep was, and that Mack would never let him heard the end of it if she caught him right now. He shook his head before stepping to the alarm, turning it off before slipping back out of the bedroom. Steve glanced behind him, giving a soft smile as she twisted around in bed, calming as she settled on her back.

"Happy birthday, Mack," Steve murmured, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Mack knew the moment that she woke up that she had overslept.

She sat up instantly, frowning when she realized that it was almost ten in the morning, cursing as she tried to untangle herself from the sheets. She froze when she realized that Arizona was gone and that the door was closed. Her body tensed and her eyes narrowed when she realized there were voices in the living room.

Mack had almost gone for her gun before her phone vibrated. Mack glanced at it and frowned when she realized it was from Tori. She raised an eyebrow as she caught the first line of it, and then looked through the rest of the text.

_Before you freak out, Steve turned off your alarm. Your own fault for giving the man a key. We plotted this so you could get more than five hours of sleep for once._

Damn. Tori knew her far too well. Mack had to admit that she felt better than she had in days. Between investigating the spy and worrying about how Steve was handling his adjustment, sleep had been one of the things that had dropped on her list of priorities.

After Natasha had missed two check-ins with SHIELD and hadn't been heard from in almost a month, more worry had been put on that end, especially when Mack had been forced to talk Barton out of going to look for her, despite the fact that Mack herself had been dangerously close to doing the same thing.

_So don't freak out, and we'll see you tonight at the diner for your birthday dinner. Hang out with Steve today, don't flirt too much. Or maybe do flirt, because I have money on you two. I'll see you later, happy birthday, Kenzie!_

Mack scowled down at the message. She hated Tori Roberts sometimes. It wasn't even that obvious that she had a crush on Steve. That was all it was, she kept telling herself. It was a crush. It wasn't that big a deal; Mack's crush on Clint had faded away after the first half year of training. Her crush on Steve would disappear soon enough.

The last time she had felt this way about a guy, she had almost lost everything – her career, her life, her friends… everything.

"Steve is not Nathan," Mack snapped to herself, keeping her voice low. She took another deep breath, trying to keep herself calm. She would not think about Nathan, not today, and she would not spend her twenty-fifth birthday sitting in her bedroom talking to herself.

There were messages on her phone already. Mack sat up in bed, smiling as she scrolled through them. She realized then she recognized Steve's voice from the living room, but stayed put as she tried to figure out who the other voice was.

Mack chuckled as she read through the second message.

_Happy birthday, Kenzie. Hope it's a great day, I'll try and call when I can. Still boring as fuck here, hope you're having fun. Get some sleep, Moreau told me you're not doing that. – CB_

She had been able to talk to Clint a few times over the past few weeks, but only over text. He still couldn't tell her anything about the assignment he was on, but Mack knew that it was relatively low-risk with no major danger present. Of course, she knew Barton and that trouble had a tendency to follow him.

If something happened, Clint would be able to deal with it. He was the best agent she knew, and Mack had faith in him. She just missed being with him on missions sometimes. It had always been him, her, and Tasha, and after her promotion to full agent, they hadn't gotten it again.

The next message on her phone surprised her.

_I'm still alive, wanted to say happy birthday to you. I'll see you when I get back in a few months. Barton told me what's going on, stay safe, Kenzie. – NR_

Holy _crap_.

If Mack had ever doubted that Natasha considered her a friend, she had the proof right here. She knew that sending Natasha a text back wouldn't do anything, and would just settle for being an annoying little sister whenever Nat did call her after this mission.

Knowing Nat though, it could be months; there had been a six span during her training where Natasha had completely disappeared, on a long term mission, and Clint had been worried the entire time. Mack was just relieved that yes, Natasha was alive, and that she could call Fury and confirm that Natasha was still alive and was probably just busy.

There were a few other messages – from Sean, from a few college friends, and a voicemail from Bridget, with her niece Dahlia contributing to it. There was even a short email from Coulson, asking how she was doing and how Steve was. She snickered at that and made a mental note to call him when she had a chance.

Mack's mother would call later on as she always did, if she tried at all; Mack had been on missions on her last two birthdays since she joined SHIELD and hadn't been able to answer her phone.

Mack shook her head before rolling out of bed, slipping her robe around her shoulders before leaving the room. She might as well figure out why Steve was in her apartment and who he was talking to. She was in the hallway and in the kitchen a moment later.

The SHIELD agent raised an eyebrow when she realized that she was correct - it _was_ in fact Steve sitting at her kitchen table – along with her neighbor Miss Argent. Mack decided instantly that it was probably one of the oddest scenes she had ever come across in her apartment, and some downright strange stuff had taken place here since she had moved in.

Mack stood in the hallway, tightening her robe around her as she looked from the elderly woman to the super soldier. "I think I had a nightmare like this once," she admitted lightly as she walked in, drawing their attention. "But my mom was here too, and I had less clothes."

Silver haired and even smaller than Mack, Miss Argent chuckled before gesturing to Steve. "I like this one, Mackenzie. I liked Grant, too, but I never like that one boy, what was his name…"

Steve saw the reaction instantly. Mack's body stiffened and some of the mischievous light went out of her green eyes. "Nathan," Mack replied, her voice almost unnaturally calm for her. "His name was Nathan. And he's not in my life at all anymore, so you can stop worrying about me." Mack relaxed slightly, smiling weakly before saying, "And Grant's just a friend, Miss Argent."

Steve noticed with surprise that she ignored the implication that Miss Argent had presented, and wondered for a second why he was curious about Grant and whoever this Nathan had been. Tori had mentioned Grant a few times, and Connor had called Grant Mack's boyfriend on occasion.

He didn't know why he was a bit jealous at that.

"Darling, I'm never going to stop worrying about you." Miss Argent stood, gesturing towards the plate on the kitchen counter. "I made you chocolate cake. This is the first time in years that you've been here for your birthday."

"Work is crazy," Mack protested, grinning at the older woman. "And I doubt it's ever going to calm down. I chose the job, Miss Argent, and I do love it. But thank you so much. I really appreciate it."

Miss Argent stood before pulling Mack into a quick hug. Mack hugged back, and Steve remained in his seat, watching the two of them carefully. His conversation with Miss Argent had been… interesting, to say the least, and he smiled wistfully as he watched the two.

Miss Argent left a few minutes later, claiming that she had to go to work, though she had winked at Steve before leaving. Mack had been calm as she had left, and Steve was surprised with how much she allowed herself to be mothered by Miss Argent. It was something different than the normal independent Mack that he was used to.

Mack turned immediately to Steve, eyes narrowed dangerously. "No, I am not going to explain anything about Nathan. So don't ask."

"I wasn't going to," Steve replied, holding his hands up.

He was curious about whoever this Nathan had been, but knew that it couldn't be anything bad. Mack was calm and relaxed a vast majority of the time, but the look on her face the moment was painful and even furious. Steve had not seen Mack truly angry yet; whenever Nathan or Australia came up, though, he saw the look in her eyes, saw the green in them turn to ice.

For a second, Steve wondered if the two were connected, if Nathan had something to do with Australia.

He pushed that thought away. Mack didn't want to talk about it, and he respected her far too much to ignore her wishes in it. She hadn't pushed about Bucky and Peggy, and he wasn't going to push her about Nathan and Australia. "Happy birthday, by the way."

"Thanks." Mack sat down across from him, raising an eyebrow before saying, "You broke into my apartment, huh?"

Steve thought for a few seconds. "You're asking questions that you already know the answer to."

"Touché. Do you want a piece? Miss Argent makes amazing cake." She chuckled before standing up, walking over to the cabinets and pulling out a plate, adding another one for him before going for the chocolate cake. "Tori told me it was your idea though. I didn't know you had it in you, Rogers."

"You'd be surprised," Steve replied, thanking her as she set down a piece of chocolate cake for him before digging into her own. He hesitated before saying, "I have something for you though."

"What?" Mack blinked in surprise as Steve passed her a black box. She looked up at Steve in shock as she opened it, saying, "Thanks, but you didn't have to do this-"

She paused and gaped down as she saw what, exactly, Steve had gotten her. It was a small, dainty silver charm bracelet – there was an M on it, a small eagle, a Pisces symbol, a four leaf clover, and a few others that made Mack realize how much thought Steve had put into it.

Mack bit back a groan when she realized that Steve was not making it easier for her not to fall for him.

"There's a stand that sells jewelry between my apartment and SHIELD," Steve explained, fidgeting slightly as she looked up at him in amazement. He looked so nervous that it nearly broke her heart. "I was looking at it one day, and I saw a few things that reminded me of you – the M for your name, the eagle for SHIELD, and Tori pointed out a few other things…"

Mack's heart was beating almost too fast as she slipped the bracelet on her wrist immediately. Her heart was almost dead now; it was beyond beautiful, and she couldn't believe he had done this for her. "Steve…" she murmured, looking up at him. She prayed that he didn't notice the blush on her face. "You shouldn't have."

Steve shook his head. "I wanted to." He watched her carefully before saying, "You've been here for me through the last month, and well, I appreciate it. You're a great friend, and I wanted to say thank you."

Now there was no way she was hiding the blush on her face. Mack smiled back at him before doing something that honestly surprised even her. She stood up and pulled Steve into a hug, trying to ignore the sparks that ignited in her stomach when he hugged her back.

"Thank you," Steve whispered as he held her close. "For everything."

"Anytime," Mack replied, trying to calm her heart rate down. She was so in trouble.

Steve himself was trying to ignore the fluttering of his heart when she hugged him, and to ignore the feeling of rightness with her in his arms. He didn't know what he felt for Mack, if it was a crush or something else, but for now, he would settle for friendship.

Steve knew he probably held her for a few moments too long, but the smile on her face when she slipped the bracelet on warmed his heart more than he thought possible. "Thanks, Kenzie," he whispered again, shooting her a half-broken smile.

The beaming grin she shot him when she realized he had called her _Kenzie_ made it worth it.

* * *

They had been halfway through the dinner when three phones vibrated.

Mack was the first to answer. She had been laughing at something Moreau had said (and Steve had been busy realizing that she was _pretty_ when she smiled, but _beautiful_ when she laughed), and looked at her phone, looking curious and calm. Steve saw the reaction immediately; Mack's eyes widened, and her hands tightened into fists.

On the other side of the table, Tori gave a sharp gasp, and Moreau let loose a curse, his gaze flying to Tori. The female doctor's face was pale, and she looked to be a mix of terrified and furious. Moreau looked grim and back in his doctor mode rather than his insane man mode.

Mack looked up from her phone, and Steve realized it wasn't Mack in front of him in that instant. It was Agent Donahue, and the look she shot Tori and Moreau was serious and deadly. "Did you get it?" she demanded.

Tori nodded stiffly, standing along with Moreau. Steve saw the heartbreak on her face, and knew that whatever had just happened wasn't good. "He's hurt, but still alive," she replied, shaking her head. "They're bringing him now." Her eyes widened as she looked up at Mack. "He asked you, didn't he?"

"Does someone want to explain what the fuck is going on?" Connor demanded, glaring between the two. He was already half drunk, since Cecelia had brought a bottle of wine with her. Cecelia sat next to Steve, and shot him a confused look that he could only shrug in response to.

"My husband was almost fucking _killed_, Hale," Tori snapped, whirling to glare at Connor. The hacker shrank a bit under her sharp gaze, and then Tori added, "Sam just got hurt on the mission… and it looks like Mack's going in to replace him."

Steve looked at Mack, and realized from the look in her eyes that this was much worse than either of the two were letting on.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Here we are, darlings! The first real, independent plotline of the story that includes the visit of a character we haven't seen for a while. We'll see him again next chapter. Spoilers for whoever guesses correctly who guest stars next chapter.

No one got the reference to the Marvel character, so I'll leave that challenge open. He's mentioned again in this one though, in connection Tori as the hint this time around.

Thanks again for reading, as always, and I hope everyone's had a great time so far! These next few chapters are going to be emotional, and for those who have been waiting for Steve to start developing feelings for Mack… this arc is going to make you very happy. ;)

Please review, hope to hear from you soon!

**Chapter 17** – _Watch Your Back_  
"Do me a favor. Just be careful, okay?" Steve raised his hands as Mack opened her mouth. "I know you can take care of yourself… just be careful. Watch your back. For me."


	17. Watch Your Back

**Author's Note:** Can I just say how awesome you all are? I'm really enjoying hearing what you all think is going to happen next, and I'm thrilled to have pretty much the best readers ever. Thanks as always for the support, I appreciate it so much!

I could not WAIT to update, so I'm doing it this morning before classes. :)

As always, I still don't own _Avengers_, just the original plotlines. I don't own the villain mentioned in here, William Cross. He's a Hawkeye villain usually, but he suited the needs for the chapter so I decided to use them. And we get a special guest star again, who hasn't appeared for a while, but I figured out a way to bring him back for a bit.

This chapter is literally my favorite one so far. You'll find out why as we go on, but Mack gets to go back and start being an awesome SHIELD agent, even though she's been having fun hanging out with Steve and getting to know him. But now we get Mack back into the field… for now. We get to see a slightly darker side to her as well, so that'll be fun.

As a note, though… please don't hate me after the ending of this chapter. But please review, because I want to know your reactions to this incident, and I promise an update as quickly as possible to finish the cliffhanger I'm giving you. As always, I'm terribly sorry for this cliffhanger…

Actually, not really. But hey, enjoy it!

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 17** – _Watch Your Back_

* * *

**March 25, 2011**

"You want me to do _what_?"

"Come back with me." Grant's brown eyed gaze was grim as always, but Mack saw the desperate spark in them. Though he'd never admit it out loud to her, Grant needed help. "Sam's officially out of commission for the time being-"

"He's okay though, right?" Mack demanded, holding her hands up as she stared pointedly at him. "Sam's going to be okay?"

"He's fine," Grant replied. He sat on her desk in her office at SHIELD while Mack stood, looking out the window into New York. "But we have one more phase of this mission to finish, and I need help. I need someone I trust."

The last few hours had been chaotic, to say the least. Mack, Tori, and Moreau had hurried back to SHIELD, and Steve had stayed with Cecelia and Connor at the diner, though Moreau had mentioned seeing them in the elevator less than an hour before. They were probably hiding down in Moreau's office. Mack had been more than a little surprised to find Grant waiting for her in her office while Tori went to check on Sam.

Sam had apparently been badly injured in a firefight, though his condition was stable at the moment. Grant had been pulled out of Sarajevo temporarily while they found a partner with him to continue the mission, despite Grant protesting that he could handle the rest of it by himself. He then had mentioned that he could find his own temporary partner.

She was a little less surprised to find out what Grant was asking of her.

Mack ran a hand through her dark hair before looking back at Grant. "What kind of help?" she asked at last, knowing that she would probably end up regretting it.

Relief crossed across Grant's face as he took a deep breath, and Mack knew that something was about to go wrong with his explanation. "You come back with me back to Sarajevo, and we take down the target. It's quick and easy."

"Nothing's ever easy in SHIELD." No mission was straight forward, especially not a mission like this. Sam was one of the best agents in SHIELD, and had nearly been killed. Something wasn't right here. Mack noticed the look on Grant's face, and glared darkly at him. "What aren't you telling me?"

"It's assassination." Grant didn't lie to her this time. "The target is William Cross."

Mack's spine stiffened instantly at the name. William Cross was supposed to be dead. He had died in Budapest at Natasha's hands. Or so Mack had thought. Her green eyes turned icy, and anger danced on her face. "I thought the son of a bitch was dead."

Grant shook his head, and Mack wondered not for the first time if he had any other setting other than grim. "Apparently not."

She sighed before coming to sit down across from him on her leather chair. "Does Barton know he's still alive?" Mack demanded, knowing that he probably didn't. Cross would be dead by now if Clint knew that he was still alive.

"As far as I'm aware, no. Director Fury might be keeping it quiet from him." Mack scowled as she realized that it was probably true. Whatever assignment Clint was currently on, it was important. SHIELD wouldn't want any distraction for Clint.

"How high is the capture possibility for this?" she asked, cursing herself mentally when she realized she was actually considering taking this mission with Grant.

Grant sighed before admitting, "Higher than normal."

Mack ran a hand through her dark hair before snapping, "Do you know how lucky you and Sam are that you didn't get captured? Cross specializes in _brainwashing_, Grant! He tried to brainwash Clint in Budapest, we barely got him out alive."

"And you know how to fight him," Grant said. He shot her a pleading look. "I need backup on this, Kenzie. They won't let me back in without it."

Mack stared back at him, her face blank as she debated it. If Cross was alive, it was only a matter of time until Clint became a target. If positions were reversed, she knew that Clint would be doing everything in his power to figure out a way to protect her.

And letting Grant go back in there alone was something she did not want to do. Sam had already nearly died on this mission, and Grant would be next if he went in alone. Mack would not let him die.

Protective instincts were hard to ignore.

Mack sighed. "When do we leave?"

* * *

"You're leaving?"

As she prepared in the weapons room later that night, Mack looked at the doorway, pausing as she saw Steve standing there, looking almost worried. "It's a temporary mission," Mack explained. She glanced down at her gun before packing two more clips into her bag. "And an emergency one. I'll be back in a few days."

Steve nodded before walking forward, leaning against the wall as he watched Mack. "How high risk?" he asked, and Mack was reminded that yes, this man was a soldier and had been in a war only a few months ago.

"I'm in SHIELD," Mack replied a few minutes later. Being honest with Steve about something might help her guilt a little bit. She took her belt off of the wall, pulling out five knives out of it at least as she shot a grim look at Steve. "There's always a risk in missions. I'll be okay."

Steve nodded slowly, and Mack watched him carefully. "Worried about me, Rogers?" she teased, shooting him as strong a grin as she could manage.

She had a terrible feeling about this mission. William Cross had nearly killed them all in Budapest. Mack had a chance to end him once and for all, and she was going to take it. She was not going to let him threaten anyone else she cared about. Hurting Sam had been the last straw.

"I always worry about my friends," Steve admitted, taking a step forward as his eyes went over her knives. He had been told before that Mack favored knives, but had no idea she was able to carry so many on her. "Think you have enough knives?"

Mack gave a grim smirk. "You can _never_ have enough knives. That's one of the first things I learned when I joined SHIELD." She threw two more in her bag, before hesitating. "I'll be okay," she assured him gently.

"It's just… different. Watching a friend going into the field and know I won't be there." Steve ran a hand through his hair, and she recognized it now as a sign of frustration.

"I get it." Mack understood where he was coming from. Watching Clint and Natasha go back out in the field without her after Australia had been incredibly frustrating, and Mack knew exactly what he meant. "I'll be okay. I promise."

Steve nodded, but didn't look completely convinced. Mack's gaze went to the case on the table beside him, and she wondered if she should show him now. Fury had told her to show him eventually, but she didn't know if now, just before she headed out on a mission, was the right time to do so. But then again, if this mission went wrong…

No. Everything was going to be okay. She was going to be fine, and she would get back to New York. She sighed as she made her decision.

"Steve?" The super soldier turned, raising an eyebrow at Mack as she gestured to the case on the table. "You might want to look in that before you leave."

Steve glanced at it before looking back at Mack, who shot him an encouraging smile. She watched as he crossed the room over to it, hesitating a few seconds before opening it. He froze almost instantly, staring down in shock at the contents of the case.

"I wondered what happened to it," Steve admitted.

"It's yours," Mack murmured. She pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail, double checking it to be sure that it wouldn't fall out. Missions were ponytail times.

Steve picked it up, and smiled softly at the familiar weight on his arm as he looked down at the circular shield that had saved his life a dozen times. "It feels almost weird to have it back on," he admitted.

"It looks good on you," Mack said, looking away as Steve glanced over at her. She bit her lip before adding, "I don't think Fury would care if you snuck it back to your apartment. It's yours, after all." She glanced at her watch before adding, "I have to go."

Steve set his shield back on the table as Mack passed him. He hesitated only a second before grabbing her arm, startling her a bit into a stop. He had lost so much already, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to survive losing another friend. She had been there for him, and he had to say something to her just in case this mission went bad.

"Do me a favor. Just be careful, okay?" Steve raised his hands as Mack opened her mouth. "I know you can take care of yourself… just be careful. Watch your back. For me."

Mack shot him a surprised look, and her eyes softened as she shot him a weak smile. "I'll be okay. If you need anything, Cecelia can help. Tori's going to be worrying about Sam, so Cecelia is the way to go." She squeezed his arm before adding, "I'll be back in a few days. I'll see you then."

Steve watched as she walked away, sighing as he bit back the fear and the bad feeling in his gut. Mack could take care of herself, but that didn't explain to Steve why he was worried about her.

* * *

**March 27, 2011**

"So, you have a crush on Captain America, huh?"

Mack groaned as she cleaned one of her knives, shooting a dark glare at Grant as they sat in the apartment they had taken over as a home base. "I don't care that I've slept with you, I will kick your ass, Grant Ward," she threatened, scowling darkly at him.

Grant chuckled. "More than a crush then."

"I don't have a crush on Steve," Mack replied pointedly, pointing her knife at him. She was in more than a little shock that Grant was teasing her about this of all things. "Now shut up."

He watched her carefully for a few seconds, and Mack's scowl deepened when she realized exactly what he was doing. "Don't you dare try to read me, Grant Ward, that's my job."

"You're a terrible liar when you're trying to do it to someone who knows you," Grant muttered, rolling his eyes at her. He kept going despite her words, adding, "This isn't just a crush, is it?"

Mack frowned at him, but didn't reply. She didn't know what she felt towards Steve Rogers. He was a sweet man, and had done so much for her in a short time. He had turned into a wonderful man, and Mack appreciated spending time with him, though she knew it was all going to backfire as soon as Steve found out what she had been keeping from him.

Then again, Mack hated herself for keeping everything from Steve.

"I don't know," Mack admitted, running a hand through her hair. She did not want to go into this now. Dammit, she could not go through this now, not when she was in the middle of Sarajevo trying to keep her and Grant alive. Sam had already nearly died on this mission. Sarajevo was dangerous for them both.

Grant nodded as he listened. "If something happens, if you stop being stubborn and something does end up happening between you two… I just hope he makes you happy."

Mack looked up at him, her face surprised as she shot him a weak, grateful smile. She knew that she had never been in love with Grant, but she loved him in a different way. He was a wonderful friend. Not a brother, like Clint was, but just as a very highly cherished friend. She was amazed that he was trying to support her in this.

"Aren't the ex-boyfriends supposed to be jealous when the girl finds a new guy?" Mack asked, tilting her head as she studied Grant.

Grant shrugged, shaking his head as he added, "Honestly? I've never thought of you as a girlfriend. I've thought of you as a friend, a friend who I love dearly and would do anything for. But not as a girlfriend."

"The sex is just a bonus?" Mack teased, grinning as she pulled off her leather jacket. She was just in a tank top and jeans now, and she rolled back her tone shoulders.

Grant smirked before shaking his head. "You can call it that. But I don't do relationships, and you needed _something_ after what that jackass did to you-"

Her body stiffened a bit, and she glared over at Grant. "Why is everyone lately so obsessed with bringing up Nathan?" she demanded, feeling a rant coming on as she shook her head. "Miss Argent mentioned him in front of Steve, and he's wondering what happened…"

"And you don't want Steve to know about Australia?" Grant asked. He watched her carefully, and Mack wished that he didn't know her as well as he did.

Mack snorted, pulling her hair out of her ponytail, sighing in relief as the tightness of the ponytail disappeared. "Over my dead body is Steve going to find out about Australia. It took me getting drunk off my ass to tell you about Australia, and I was in a much worse emotional state when you found out."

"Do you think Steve is going to think differently of you if he finds out about Australia?"

The question made Mack pause and think. Did she think that? Hell yes. It had taken her months to be able to look at herself in the mirror without hating the person she saw.

"I _know_ he's going to think differently of me," Mack replied, trying to hide the breaks in her voice.

Grant sighed, before moving over to sit next to her. He slipped a hand around her shoulder before saying, gently, "We're all damaged, Kenzie. He's probably just as damaged as the rest of us. I haven't met him, but from what I've heard, I think he'll understand."

Mack rolled his eyes. "I still don't understand Australia."

Grant squeezed her shoulder, kissing her forehead before adding, "And if he doesn't and he ends up hurting you… I kick his ass. Living legend or not."

She gave a genuine laugh. "You're impossible." She squeezed his hand. "Thanks."

"Anytime." He squeezed her hand back before standing back up. "We need to start prepping. You need to take Cross out."

"It's going to be more difficult that you're thinking," Mack muttered, scowling as she glared over at him.

Grant raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "If it were easy…"

"It wouldn't be fun," Mack murmured, knowing that something was probably going to go wrong now, if only so the universe could prove Grant Ward wrong.

* * *

"Have you heard from her?"

Cecelia glanced up at Steve as they sat in Moreau's office. Steve had been worrying since she had left with Grant, hoping that they would hear something from Mack. Cecelia knew that it had barely been a day though, and that they wouldn't hear anything until the mission was complete.

"Nothing," Moreau replied, looking exhausted.

Tori had not come in today. She was in the medical wing with her husband, who was in stable condition and would hopefully be allowed to go back to their apartment for a medical leave soon enough.

"She'll be back in a few days," Cecelia replied, shooting Steve a weak smile. She still felt guilty about the incident when he had woken up, though she knew he didn't hold anything against her or Moreau about it.

Steve nodded as he readjusted himself in his seat, going back to his sketch. Cecelia frowned before looking over at the super soldier, and rolled her eyes before standing up, casually walking to see what he was sketching. Her eyes widened as she saw it, and Steve shot her a quick glare as he tried to hide it.

"I knew it," Cecelia said, grinning ecstatically at Steve. "I knew it!"

"Please, just drop it," Steve begged, and the linguist laughed as she saw the blush cross his face. He hit the sketch frantically before repeating, "Cecelia, please just drop it."

"Drop what?" Moreau asked, frowning suspiciously as he spit his glare between the two. "What are you two babbling about?"

"Nothing," Cecelia replied coolly, grinning over and winking at Steve. The super soldier ignored her, going back to his sketch, though she caught the blush easily enough on his face. "Don't worry about it, Moreau."

Moreau glared at them both before muttering, "And you all call me strange." He went back to his laptop, typing furiously away and muttering to himself. Steve was sure he also heard the occasional hum coming from the doctor.

The super soldier scowled as Cecelia giggled again, grinning away at him. Steve glanced down at his sketch and sighed as he went back to it, hoping that Mack wasn't going to find out that he was sketching _her_.

* * *

**March 28, 2011**

She was starting to hate Sarajevo.

Anything that could have gone wrong on this mission had gone wrong. Cross had figured out he was being targeted again, had nearly killed Grant in an explosion, and had sealed the final nail in his coffin by threatening to go after Clint while Mack was in earshot.

That had been the point where the icy cold professionalism that Barton and Romanoff had drilled into her had appeared. She had always cultivated an air of being a friendly, sweet agent wherever she was sent, because being underestimated was incredibly useful, even if Mack found it completely insulting.

Being underestimated had saved her life in Budapest. It could save her life here in Sarajevo, but that possibility disappeared the moment Cross had threatened Barton.

Threatening Barton was quite possibly the worst thing someone could do. As protective as he was of her, Mack had a wicked protective streak towards the people she cared about. Clint was included in that, and the moment he was threatened was the moment Mack had decided that William Cross would not survive.

She had shot Cross in the head herself, and Mack refused to regret it. If it protected Clint, then it had to be done. He had done the same for her before.

All that was left now was getting out of Sarajevo. Mack rushed through the hallway, hurling herself into the stairwell before rushing down them. "Ward, target is down," she said sharply, tapping her earpiece as she tried to get it to work. She hurried down the stairs, slipping her jacket on. "Ward, I repeat, target is down!"

"Extraction is go," Grant's voice rang through her ear.

Mack smirked a bit. She wasn't used to extractions. She had never learned to accept that an extraction. Clint and Natasha never had extractions, and as such, she had never been given an extraction. It was a useful skill to have, but Mack wouldn't lie; an extraction at this point in time would be fantastic.

"Donahue, how far out are you?"

"I'm heading into the alley now," Mack said, her voice a bit sharp. "I need extraction now, Ward!"

"On it."

Mack stood in the alley for a few seconds, trying to catch her breath as she put one hand on her holstered gun. She looked around, biting her lip before taking a few steps to the left, giving a grim sighs before she hurried to the front of the alley.

It happened almost too quickly.

Mack heard Grant's warning shout through the earpiece just as pain exploded in her chest.

Her last thought before she dropped to the ground, unconscious, was _sniper_.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Please don't hate me. Please review; I really want your reactions to this chapter. Thanks as always for the support, hope to hear from you all soon! Next update should be in a day or two as always, because I'm excited to get to the next mini subplot with everything.

And because it demands it… (evil laughter at the cliffhanger).

**Chapter 18** – _Breathe for Me_  
"Steve, Mack's hurt." His heart froze in his chest, and he knew then it was so much worse than Cecelia was letting on.


	18. Breathe for Me

**Author's Note:** Damn. You all reacted to that last chapter. Well, obviously I'm not killing her off, because that would mean I wasted a month writing a story where I kill Mack off before all the fun stuff that happens in _Avengers_. And considering what happens in _Avengers_… well, we want Mack alive for that. Trust me.

But seriously. FIFTEEN REVIEWS FOR ONE CHAPTER. Thank you all so much!

Damn. I need to threaten Mack's life more often, because your responses to it were amazing. You guys had no idea how much fun I had getting all the reviews.

But we get into a few more emotional chapters here concerning the fallout of the sniper attack… especially because I can promise that the sniper attack is not what any of you are thinking that it is. You'll be a bit surprised when the reveal comes next chapter about it, but until then I'd love to hear you speculation about it.

Onto the next matter… WE BROKE 100 REVIEWS. ACTUALLY, WE ARE NOW AT 110 BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE INSANELY AWESOME. Guys, I seriously nearly started crying in my college dining hall when we broke 100, and I could not stop giggling when I realized we reached 110. It's insanely amazing, and I'm so grateful for you guys.

As always, I don't own Avengers, and I hope to hear from you guys with this new installment! Please review!

* * *

**Bohemia  
**In her three years at SHIELD, Mackenzie Donahue has run into some strange things. Weird hammers, egocentric billionaires, and of course her archer SO. Somehow, a gentleman soldier out of his time turns out to be the best of it all. Steve/OC

* * *

**Chapter 18** – _Breathe for Me_

* * *

**March 28, 2011**

"Kenzie!"

Everything was hazy and blurry, and pain bled through everything. Something hot and sticky was resting on her chest, and Mack could barely focus long enough to hear the voice trying to break through the fog she was trapped in. She was on something softer now, and it was moving.

She didn't know what was going on.

"Kenzie, you have to try and stay awake! We're getting you to the hospital; you're going to be okay!"

She didn't know who was talking. She couldn't remember what had happened, why she was in so much pain.

And then she did. She had stepped into the alley, Grant had shouted something through the earpiece, and then she had heard a gunshot. She had collapsed a second later, her chest in so much pain she didn't think it possible. She had blacked out from shock and pain seconds later.

She'd been shot.

"Kenzie, you have to keep fighting."

It was Grant. She had never heard Grant's voice that frantic before. She teased him for being protective all the time, but she had stopped teasing him as much about it after finding out about his brothers. She had always promised herself that she would kick his older brother's ass for what he had done to Grant.

Grant was _scared_.

"Kenzie, I'm so sorry, it's going to be okay-"

Someone was squeezing her hand, and Mack squeezed back out of instinct, groaning in pain. "Gra-" she choked, her head lolling from side to side as she tried to sit up.

"Kenzie, baby, you have to stay calm, stay down-" Someone pushed her down, and Mack whimpered in pain as her head spun even as she lay on the bed. "You're going to be okay. You need to breathe, okay? You need to breathe, Kenzie, just breathe…"

Breathing _hurt_. Mack had been tortured and shot and even stabbed before, but nothing hurt more than breathing right now. She couldn't do it. She could not breathe.

"You need to breathe, Kenzie! I know it hurts, but you have to do it! For me, okay!? For me and Clint and Natasha and… and for Steve, Kenzie. You need to breathe for us."

She breathed through the pain.

_For Grant._

She kept breathing as something was stabbed into her arm, and she realized through the haze that it must be a needle. The pain started to bleed away, but so did her awareness of what was happening around her.

_For Clint._

Another breath, a bit stronger, though just as painful as the first.

_For Natasha._

And Mack kept breathing, kept trying to fight, even as she fell back into a blissful, painless unconsciousness.

_For Steve._

* * *

**April 1, 2011**

Steve had been in the gym when he heard the news.

There had been rumors floating around the building for days - a mission in Sarajevo had gone wrong and an agent had been badly wounded. A different one said that an agent had been killed, though the name hadn't been released yet. No matter what, something had happened to an agent in Sarajevo.

Debates about who the injured agent was spread like wildfire. Steve forced himself not to think about it, to stay calm. He convinced himself that Mack was fine, that she would be back in a few days and he was worrying for nothing. The only thing all the rumors agreed on was that an enemy sniper had scored a hit on a mission.

Steve ignored it. Mack was okay. She was tough and strong and could handle herself, and she would be okay.

When a red-faced, teary eyed Cecelia walked into the gym after hours of him repeating the mantra in his head, Steve knew instantly that something was wrong.

"Steve, Mack's hurt." His heart froze in his chest, and he knew then it was so much worse than Cecelia was letting on.

"How bad?" he demanded, his voice rough as he abandoned the punching bag, following the German specialist into the hallway and to the elevator. He grabbed his gym bag on the way out, almost as an afterthought

"Bad," Cecelia replied, her voice shaking as she pressed the button on the elevator. She ran a hand through her dark hair. "You've heard the rumors going around the building?"

Dread took over every inch of him as he nodded stiffly. "It's her." It wasn't a question. Something in his gut had told him all day that the injured or killed agent had been Mack, and Cecelia's attitude right now only confirmed what he had suspected. "The agent who was in Sarajevo."

"It's her." The confirmation did not make anything better. Cecelia tapped her heel impatiently as the elevator went up, and Steve realized they were heading to the medical wing. The elevator doors opened, and Steve followed her out as she continued, "She was shot in the chest by a sniper from a third party present that we weren't aware of until they actually shot her."

"A third party?" Steve repeated, frowning at her in confusion.

Cecelia nodded. "A third party that wasn't involved with SHIELD or with the enemy's forces. Fury is figuring out who… but they targeted Mack for a reason."

Steve's gut nearly dropped in shock. Mack had told him HYDRA was still alive. HYDRA had not used any hesitation back in the war, and Steve had been a target the entire time, especially when it came to Schmidt. If this was HYDRA targeting her to get to him…

Steve was _not_ losing another friend to HYDRA. Not this time, not ever again.

Cecelia looked over at Steve and frowned when she recognized the look on his face. "Steve, this is not HYDRA. There was no way it was HYDRA."

"We don't know that," Steve said, guilt forming inside of him when he realized that there was every chance that Mack had been targeted to get to him. He did not know what he was going to do if that was the case.

"If this was HYDRA, she'd be dead." Cecelia's voice was calm and logical, but Steve saw something in her right then. He realized then that it was almost guilt, but for what?

She had a point though. Steve had suspected the last month that HYDRA might be planning something, and that he might become a target as soon as HYDRA discovered he was still alive. They had been obsessed with the super soldier formula; with Schmidt dead, Steve was their only way to access it.

HYDRA would make a play eventually. The only question was _when_. And if they would go after someone to get to him.

Cecelia hesitated as she stopped outside a room, shooting a sad look at Steve as she stepped into it. Steve glanced in, eyes widening as he caught sight of the injured party lying in the hospital bed. He didn't remember following Cecelia into it, and instead stared at the person in the bed.

Mack was still unconscious, but Steve knew that it was better than he had hoped for. She was breathing on her own and was hooked up to machines that Steve couldn't begin to understand were used for. Moreau stood at the foot of Mack's bed with a clipboard in his hands, and nodded at Cecelia and Steve entered.

Not for the first time, Steve was hit with the realization that Mack was so much smaller than she acted. He also realized that this was one of the first times that she wasn't moving. Even when she was asleep she was fidgeting and moving around. She was just unconscious now, and that scared Steve more than anything else.

"Is she going to wake up?" Steve asked, his voice surprisingly level.

Moreau shot him a look that was half _you poor soul_ and half _don't be an idiot_. "Of course she's going to wake up, you idiot. She's on a lot of painkillers right now, and she's never had the best reactions to them. She'll be in and out of consciousness until we lower the dosage, which won't be for another few days."

Steve nodded, relief flooding onto his face. "She's going to be okay?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm and level.

Moreau nodded, taking a deep breath before glancing back at the monitor. Steve watched as the doctor debated with himself how much he was going to share. "It was close. She's going to be okay though."

Steve sighed in relief. "Thank God." He watched her, and was struck right about then how small Mack really was.

Moreau squeezed his shoulder awkwardly, and Steve raised an eyebrow when he realized the doctor was trying to be comforting. Somehow, that made everything a bit more terrifying.

"She'll wake up in a day or two," Moreau added, stepping away from Steve. He apparently found that trying to comfort people was just as awkward. "So calm yourself. You can be overprotective and Barton can yell at her for getting shot and Grant can be an idiot and blame himself and Natasha can be the only sane one left."

The doctor scowled and seemed to hesitate, and Cecelia frowned. "What aren't you telling us?" the linguist demanded, raising a thin eyebrow at him.

He didn't hesitate to answer her question. "Whoever this sniper was, he was good," Moreau murmured, glancing over the test results before looking back at Mack. "He did exactly what he wanted to do – hurt her, but not kill her. She was a target, but not _the_ target."

"I'm sorry?" Steve asked, frowning as he looked over at the doctor. "What are you talking about?"

"They weren't trying to kill her," Moreau repeated, scowling before looking back at her.

Cecelia hummed slightly, shooting a significant look at Steve before looking at Moreau. "They were trying to just hurt her?"

"Exactly, and they wanted to be sure that she would survive. The bullet missed all major organs – no damage to the heart or lungs. That takes intense skill and concentration." Moreau bit the tip of his pen as he looked down at her, adding, "She needed surgery to close the wounds, but she's going to make a full recovery."

"Someone was trying to send a message," Steve realized, his hands clenching into fists.

"And it was received loud and clear," Cecelia murmured. She leaned against the doorway, watching as Mack's chest rose and fell slowly as she kept breathing. "She's lucky, isn't she?"

"That or that sniper is one of the best marksmen in the world. Besides Agent Barton, of course," Moreau disputed, though he fidgeted as both Steve and Cecelia shot him a glare. "Probably a mix of both, actually. Barton's going to flip when he finds out about this."

"Romanoff is not going to be happy, either." Cecelia glanced at Steve before looking back at Moreau. "Is it possible this is to get to one of them? It's happened before."

"Fury and Coulson are investigating. We won't know for sure until they're done." The look on Moreau's face told both Cecelia and Steve that he thought the same though.

Moreau sighed before setting the clipboard back on the edge of Mack's bed. "I know the doctor who operated on her in Sarajevo. He did a good job. I need to go check on Sam; I'll be back in a little bit."

He walked out, and Steve sat down next to Mack's bed. She hadn't moved at all, and the steady rise and fall of her chest was the only thing that told Steve he had not lost another friend.

Steve couldn't lose another friend. Not now, not yet, not after he had lost nearly everyone.

"Are you okay?" Cecelia asked quietly. She was studying him carefully, and Steve shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. He could deal with it a majority of the time, but her resemblance to Peggy Carter made things uncomfortable once in a while.

The look on Cecelia's face made her resemblance to Peggy painful.

"I think it's her we should be worrying about," Steve murmured.

"She's unconscious, but she's going to be okay. Moreau is one of the best doctors SHIELD has. She's going to be absolutely fine." Cecelia's tone was slightly less calm than before as she watched Steve with a frown on her face.

"So why are you worrying about me then?" Steve asked, turning and frowning at her. Anger hit his voice then. "Because I think we should be focusing on Mack right now. She almost died, Cecelia."

"You want to know why I'm worrying about you?" Cecelia demanded. Her voice had taken an almost acidic tone, and it surprised Steve enough to make him fall silent. "I'm worried about you because I haven't seen that look on your face like that since you woke up and found out you were asleep for sixty-six years." Cecelia stood her ground as Steve shot a surprised look at her. "The same look of fear and anger. Mack's not the only one who can read people, Steve."

Steve didn't answer, and instead focused his attention back on the unconscious Mack. Moreau had said that she was going to be okay, but he was still worried. "I'm going to stay with her," he murmured, running a hand through his hair.

"I have to get back to work." Cecelia stood and squeezed Steve's shoulder. "I'll come and check in on you both later. Come and find me if you need anything."

She left the room, and Steve sighed, closing his eyes as he wondered how he had gotten into this incident.

"I have a question for you, Steve." The super solider looked back at the linguist, his face going blank as Cecelia asked, "Seeing how you reacted after this… can you really say you just see Mack as a friend?"

As he sat in the silence after she left, Steve realized three things. The first was that the agent in front of him would probably end up being the death of him in some way, shape, or form, because Mackenzie Donahue was too much like Bucky for her own good.

The second was that he had feelings for Mack that were not friendship, feelings he hadn't had since Peggy.

The last was that he was in so much trouble it was almost hilarious.

* * *

"Captain Rogers, I'm assuming?"

Hours later, Steve looked up at the voice from the doorway. Standing there was a dark-haired man probably around his physical age, with dark hair and eyes and a serious face. Though he hadn't met him, Steve realized who it was right away.

"Steve, please," he murmured, trying to wake up. He had nearly fallen asleep, and he wanted to be awake and there. He took another look. "Agent Ward?"

"Grant," the dark-haired man corrected. He took a step into the room, and Steve recognized the emotion crossing the normally stoic man's face: regret. "Moreau said she's going to be alright."

"Moreau put her on some pain medication," Steve confirmed, frowning slightly when he saw that there had been no change in her. She was still unconscious, still in the exact same position she had been in when he had started to doze off. "He said she'll stay like this while she's on it."

"Pain killers knock her on her ass. Always have," Grant replied, chuckling slightly as he sat down in the other chair. "She got hurt in Spain… it was an interesting experience. Mack's very chatty while drugged. She swore me to secrecy and threatened to flay me alive if I ever let it out."

"She'd probably keep to that threat," Steve said, a half smiling cross his face as he glanced over at her.

He knew that Moreau said she was going to wake up. He knew that she was one of the strongest people he had ever met, that she could take care of herself, that she wasn't going to let a sniper kill her like this. But every part of Steve was still worried about her, and had been for the past day.

He hadn't felt a fear this strong since he had found out Bucky was trapped behind enemy lines.

"It happened too quickly." Steve glanced back up at Grant as they both watched Mack carefully, Grant said, "I didn't notice the sniper until it was too late. I couldn't protect my friend."

"You did all you could."

Steve was no stranger to injuries in combat. But he also knew the guilt that came afterward, the feeling of failing a comrade whether or not you were at fault.

Steve sighed. "She cares about you, a lot." The super soldier looked down at Mack before he turned back to Grant. "Look, just… she's done a lot for me in the past month. And she's… a friend. Just take care of her, okay?" Steve said.

Grant stared at him for a few moments, and Steve recognized the look as one similar to what had been crossing Tori and Cecelia's faces as of late. "Cecelia wasn't kidding when she said you were completely oblivious," he murmured, shaking his head.

"Is someone going to explain this to me eventually?" Steve demanded, running his hand through his hair. Frustration lined his voice as he added, "For once, I'd love for someone just to flat out explain what everyone thinks is going on."

"Rogers, Kenzie is one of the few people I trust to watch my back in the field," Grant interrupted, shooting him a dark look as he shook his head. "Whatever we might have been, whatever we could have been… that's not in the picture anymore. It's not possible anymore."

"Why's that?" Steve asked, wondering what the SHIELD agent was talking about. Grant just shot him a significant look, waiting for something. It hit Steve a moment later, and his eyes widened as he stared at Grant. "Wait, you don't mean…"

Grant chuckled. "It's about time you figured it out." He stood out then, ruffling Mack's messy hair gently before he started to walk out the door. Steve looked back at Mack, frowning as he wondered if she felt something for him or not, and wonder how obvious it might have been to the others.

"Rogers." Steve looked back over at Grant, who was watching the unconscious Mack with an almost regretful expression. "Just… take care of her. She's tough, she can handle herself… but she's more fragile than she makes herself out to be."

Steve nodded before replying, "I will."

"You don't… I kick your ass. Super soldier or not." Grant rolled his eyes before adding, "And no matter what I do, it'll be merciful compared to what Barton or Romanoff might do to you."

Steve smiled softly at him. "I'll let you borrow the shield if I do hurt her."

Grant left then, and Steve leaned back in his chair, realizing that he respected Grant Ward, and that Mack did people in her life who would do anything to protect her or help her. She probably didn't even realize what the people who loved her were willing to do for her.

He counted himself among that number now.

* * *

**April 2, 2011**

Everything was hazy, but Mack managed to focus enough to open her eyes a day after her arrival in SHIELD's medical wing.

She blinked sleep out of her eyes, whimpering as she tried to breathe. The last thing she remembered was stepping into the alley, Grant yelling a warning at her through her earpiece, and then, the very last thing, pain exploding in her chest before she had completely blacked out.

She remembered waking, briefly, in so much pain she could barely remember what had happened.

The memory came almost instantly.

She'd been shot by a sniper.

Mack forced herself to keep her body down on the bed. Judging from the pain in her chest, she had just suffered a rather close call. Mack had been shot before, but that had been the arm. She hadn't had a bulletproof vest on because it would have been too obvious when she slipped into the building to take down Cross.

So, of course, she had paid for that choice.

Mack glanced around the room, raising an eyebrow in surprise when she saw she wasn't alone. Sitting in the chair next to her bed, fast asleep was Steve. He looked exhausted, and Mack gave a soft, dizzy smile as she looked at him. He really was adorable when he slept.

She realized then that he must have been there for a while. Her heart almost stopped again at that. Tori had been teasing Mack about Steve for weeks now, but this was the first time that Mack realized that Steve might feel something for her.

Mack pushed the thought away as arrogant a moment later. There was no way Steve Rogers had feelings for her. They were friends – very good friends. She had sat at Clint's bedside before, after he had been injured on a mission, taking a bullet to his shoulder to save her life. She and Clint weren't romantically involved. They were friends.

That was all Steve was to her. They were friends.

Mack kept repeating that to herself as she fell back asleep. She only realized the moment before she dozed off that Steve was holding her hand.

* * *

**Author's Note:** See, I promised a quick update! Next chapter we get a pretty adorable conversation between Mack and Steve, if I do say so myself, so that should be an incentive for reviews. Next chapter also brings the reveal of who ordered Mack's shooting, so I'd love speculation from you as to who's behind it.

Next chapter also sets up the next plotline.

Thanks so much for the amazing support last chapter! You guys have no idea how much I appreciate it. I hope to hear from you all this time as well! Next chapter should be up tomorrow or Saturday, thanks as always!

**Chapter 19** – _Taking a Bullet_  
Mack ran a hand through her hair, knowing that Steve was not going to take this development very well at all. "Oh my God."


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